Oz Family Farm Heritage Turkeys

Oz Family Farm raises beautiful heritage turkeys here in Northern California and it’s an honor every year for us to make these humanely raised birds available to our Thanksgiving customers. This year, Oz Family Farm raised eight heritage breeds for us: Spanish Black, Bourbon Red, Standard Bronze, Chocolate, Lavender, Slate, Narragansett, and White Holland. When you order one from Good Eggs, you’ll be able to see which breed you received, knowing you’re part of supporting the regeneration of endangered heritage turkeys. Recently, Oz Farm’s matriarch, Kelly, shared some thoughts with us about what makes their turkeys special.

What makes Oz Farm turkeys the coveted Thanksgiving bird?

What I love about Heritage Turkeys is that their uniqueness and authenticity is still intact.  These are the same birds that our ancestors would have had access to.  They have not been modified and therefore they can still reproduce and fly.  Each variety has its own colors, patterns and charataristics.  The size, texture and true turkey flavor is present and has not been modified or watered down in order to decrease growth rates from 7 to 8 months for a heritage turkey to approximately 14 to 16 weeks for a commercial turkey. By doing so, you have increased profits but are left with a watered down, oversized version, an imposter of sorts, that is a mere representation of a true heritage turkey now lacking its coloring,  true size, ability to even fly or reproduce. 

What's something surprising or unique about your process that you think customers would be interested to know? 

OZ Family Farms Heritage Turkeys are sustainable—something that can not be said about a commercial turkey.  We collect, individually date, and incubate as many of our own eggs as possible. They are hand turned every day awaiting incubation.  Every turkey we raise is wing banded and tracked throughout its life cycle. Its wingband number and variety of turkey is listed on every turkey that we sell.  This is our way of helping to educate the public to the different types of turkeys that are still in existence.  

We raise endangered breeds that each consumer can look up on the Livestock Conservancy list to learn more about each variety's unique characteristics and endangered status.  We also are members and breeders for the Sonoma County Heritage Turkey Project.  This year we are offering the following varieties of heritage turkeys:  Spanish Black, Bourbon Red, Standard Bronze, Chocolate, Lavender, Slate, Narragansett, and White Holland.  Our turkeys are not raised inside barns.  We raise our heritage turkeys outside on natural grass pastures. Besides a complete feed they also are supplemented with fermented grains.

What makes Good Eggs a good partner for your farm? 

Good Eggs represents the best in local, fresh, and sustainable foods.  Good Eggs supports small farmers and allows them to grow authentic, heritage, living foods that sustain good health and provide nutrition to people who don't have the time, ability, or location to grow or make their own.  

Good Eggs helps the farmer and the consumer support each other in the most holistic, symbiotic way. They are the lifeline between two entities that need each other in order to thrive. Thanksgiving is a symbolic holiday, a time when it makes more sense than ever to be mindful of the environmental and ethical issues that come along with eating. Heritage turkeys provide an opportunity to support endangered breeds and small farmers, and to eat a bird that represents the traditional Thanksgiving illustrations that represent the holiday.   

OZ Family Farm raise heritage niche meats for specific clients that can best showcase the genuine characteristics of the breeds they represent.  This is our passion.  We have no desire to produce meat in large faceless quantities.  This would be merely a job.