Jersey Buff or Buff

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The Buff, or Jersey Buff, is an historic variety of the mid-Atlantic region named for the beautiful color of its feathers. It was accepted by the American Poultry Association in 1874 but was never widespread. So unfortunately, by the early 20th century, the Buff turkey was already rare. One obstacle to the breed’s success was the difficulty of breeding birds to fit the color standard, which called for even buff throughout with light flight feathers. The breed’s color was advantageous for processing because of the nearly white pinfeathers, though the Buff was not extensively selected for other performance qualities. Buff turkeys were used in the development of the Bourbon Red variety early in the 1900s. As the Bourbon Red gained prominence, the Buff declined. Today there are very few Buff turkeys kept at the seasonal hatcheries in the US and a small number are being raised by exhibition breeders.

Sources

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American Livestock Breeds Conservancy
P.O. Box 477
Pittsboro, NC 27312
919-542-5704
http://www.albc-usa.org

ALBC’s List of Heritage Turkey Producers
ALBC Manual - How to Raise Heritage Turkeys on Pasture

Society for the Preservation of Poultry Antiquities
Dr. Charles R.H. Everett, Secretary-Treasurer
1057 Nick Watts Road
Lugoff, SC 29078
803-960-2114
http://www.feathersite.com/Poultry/SPPA/SPPA.html

Find Producers on LocalHarvest

http://www.localharvest.org/ark-product.jsp?id=165