We entered our birds in the Red Bluff poultry show put on by the Northern California Poultry Association. The show was in March, 2015.
We figured if we are going to drive from Washington to California anyway, why not enjoy the view along the way? Below are a few photos of our trip.
We figured if we are going to drive from Washington to California anyway, why not enjoy the view along the way? Below are a few photos of our trip.
On the way, we decided to visit some heritage turkey breeders and buy some eggs from them. We recently got back into the turkey breeding business, and currently have three Standardized varieties: Bronze, Narragansett, and Blue Slate. The turkey pictured is Self Blue, or Lavender. While not in the American Standard of perfection, Self Blue is a byproduct of Blue Slate. |
Technically, Blue Slate is created when a black turkey has one copy of the "dilute" gene, which causes the blue appearance. A Self Blue turkey is created when a black turkey has both copies of the dilute gene.
Therefore, a Blue Slate Turkey is actually heterozygous, which means it has two different genes in the same location, rather than two of the same kind. This is why Blue Slate turkeys do not breed true; the offspring will be 50% Blue Slate, 25% Black, and 25% Self Blue. However, if you breed Self Blue directly to Black, you get 100% Blue Slate.
The blue color in poultry is quite fascinating. We will touch more on it in a future blog post.
Therefore, a Blue Slate Turkey is actually heterozygous, which means it has two different genes in the same location, rather than two of the same kind. This is why Blue Slate turkeys do not breed true; the offspring will be 50% Blue Slate, 25% Black, and 25% Self Blue. However, if you breed Self Blue directly to Black, you get 100% Blue Slate.
The blue color in poultry is quite fascinating. We will touch more on it in a future blog post.