Narragansett Turkeys

Narragansetts are a heritage breed that can trace their roots back to the pilgrims. Once commonly seen free-ranging on homesteads and small farms, they've become somewhat of a rarity with the rise of commercial agriculture. As they've been replaced by breeds more suitable to close confinement and rapid growth at an early age, Narragansetts have become so uncommon that they are now on the Livestock Conservancy's watch list. 

A favorite on our farm, we consider this breed perfect for small-scale agriculture and homesteaders. Independent enough to keep the feed bill down through free-ranging, yet friendly enough to let you pick them up and eat out of your hand. They are by far the prettiest turkeys you can find in our opinion, with dramatic dark-on-light feathering that hearkens back to the first Thanksgiving. Being a heritage breed, they are remarkably disease tolerant and require very little care relative to most modern breeds. We give ours free-choice access to feed and shelter, but true to their heritage roots they typically choose to forage for insects and greens in the pasture during the day and roost in the tree next to their coop at night. 

Hens typically lay about 90 eggs per year, most between March and May, and yearling toms ready for harvest usually weigh in at about 25lbs. Being a heritage breed apt for free-ranging, it takes a relatively small amount of feed to support this productivity. This lends well to our philosophy of low-input/high-output husbandry, which we consider a vital tenant of sustainable agriculture.

We hope you'll help us conserve this beautiful heritage breed, and are proud to offer poults and hatching eggs for sale each spring. While we offer shipping for hatching eggs, poults must be picked up in person on the farm. Check out our 'For Sale' page to find out what we have available right now.