The Bourbon Red was bred in the Bluegrass RegionofKentucky in the late nineteenth century. The breeding work is usually attributed to J.F. Barbee, and is thought to have been based on a particularly dark strain of Buff Turkey from Pennsylvania called the Tuscawara or Tuscarora Red, with some admixture of White Holland and Bronze stock.[9]: 454 [2] It was initially called the Kentucky Red or Bourbon Butternut, but became better known once the name Bourbon Red was adopted.[9]: 454 It was accepted into the Standard of Perfection of the American Poultry Association in 1909.[2]
In the early twentieth century it was marketed as suitable for commercial production, and soon supplanted the less productive Buff, which became rare and in 1915 was removed from the Standard of Perfection. In the interwar period the Bourbon Red was widely reared, particularly as a farm bird in the Midwest, but numbers declined rapidly after the adoption of the Broad Breasted White for industrial production.[9]: 454 [2][10]
The Bourbon Red is a tall, high-breasted turkey, characterized by its deep mahogany-red body color. The wing primaries and secondaries are white, as are the main tail feathers.[9]: 454 The beak is dark at the base, lightening to a horn-colour at the tip. The shanks and feet are a deep reddish horn in young birds, becoming pink with maturity.[2][10]
The Livestock Conservancy lists an ideal weight of 15 kg (32 lb) for mature toms (males) and 8 kg (18 lb) for mature hens, while for young birds it gives weights of 10 kg (23 lb) and 6 kg (14 lb) respectively. As for many years there has been little or no selective breeding for productive charactistics, many birds are likely to reach lower weights.[2]
^ abcdefJanet Vorwald Dohner (2001). The Encyclopedia of Historic and Endangered Livestock and Poultry Breeds. New Haven, Connecticut; London: Yale University Press. ISBN0300088809.
^ abBourbon Red Turkey: Ark of taste. Bra, Cuneo: Fondazione Slow Food per la Biodiversità Onlus/Slow Food Foundation for Biodiversity. Accessed March 2023.
^ abTransboundary breed: Bourbon Red. Domestic Animal Diversity Information System of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Accessed March 2023.