The Auburn, also known as the Light Brown, is a breed of

domestic turkey The domestic turkey (Meleagris gallopavo domesticus) is a large fowl, one of the two species in the genus '' Meleagris'' and the same species as the wild turkey. Although turkey domestication was thought to have occurred in central Mesoamerica a ...

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heritage turkey A heritage turkey is one of a variety of strains of domestic turkey which retains historic characteristics that are no longer present in the majority of turkeys raised for consumption since the mid-20th century. Heritage turkeys can be different ...

, the Auburn is one of the rarest varieties currently in existence. It has been referenced by name in written records since the 18th century, and is named after the light reddish-brown color of its plumage. There is also an extremely rare variant of the Auburn, called the Silver Auburn.

History

This is an old variety that was listed in receipts when transporting turkeys to markets in "turkey trots" during the late 18th and early 19th centuries in Philadelphia. They are sex linked and thus were important at the beginning of this century for producing poults that could be sexed at hatching. Cross-breedings of Auburn toms and

Bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals, such as phosphorus, or metalloids such ...

hens were done to produce Bronze toms and Auburn hens thus making it quite easy to sex poults by color at hatch. However, this did not become a serious market requirement and they never became very popular. However, when breeding Auburn turkeys together, only auburn colored poults will be produced in both sexes.

Types

Auburn describes a variation in the typical bronze plumage color in which bronze is replaced with a red-brown pigmentation. At day of age, the Auburn poult resembles the Bronze but with black stripes replaced with a red-brown coloration. In the adult bird, the bronze pigmentation is also replaced by a red-brown color. The barring present in the primary and secondary flight feathers is red-brown and white in contrast to the black and white typical in the bronze bird.

References

Turkey breeds originating in the United States Conservation Priority Breeds of the Livestock Conservancy {{poultry-stub

History

Types

See also

References