Breed Profile: Royal Palm Turkey

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The Royal Palm is the black and white turkey developed in the United States. It’s an ornamental variety of heritage turkey, which has found its place on the small farm. The name reflects the beauty of its plumage, perhaps comparing it to that of the much-admired tree of the same name.

History of the Royal Palm Turkey

Origin

Offspring with black and white patterning can arise when crossing turkeys of different varieties. The Narragansett also produces silver offspring from time to time with a similar pattern. However, the pattern was first noted and selected in the United States by Enoch E. Carson in Florida in the 1920s. The Carson Turkey Ranch (later Royal Palm Ranch) ran a mixed flock of Bronze, Black, Narragansett, and wild turkeys.

A similar black and white turkey was developed in Germany in the early 1900s by Alfred L. E. Beeck, the head of breeding research for the Chamber of Agriculture in Halle. His facility was located in a district called Kröllwitz, so the European version of the variety is known as Cröllwitzer or Pied. This variety was developed from crosses of different German and Belgian varieties (particularly the variegated Ronquières developed in Belgium in the late 1600s).

Domestic turkeys were bred into different varieties in Europe after importation from Mexico to Spain in the 1500s. All European turkeys are derived from the Mexican subspecies of wild turkey. Ironically, domestic varieties developed in Northern America are derived from turkeys imported from Europe in the 1600s and subsequently crossed with wild turkeys of the eastern States.

Breed Development

After isolating the Royal Palm as a new variety, it took time to perfect the color and pattern. The American Turkey Journal announced in March 1939, “The new breed of turkeys known as the Royal Palm is creating much interest in turkey circles.” The cover featured a photo of “a fine Royal Palm tom [i.e., male] from the flocks of Enoch E. Carson, Lake Worth, Florida, creator and breeder of this distinctly new variety.” By 1940, Carson was advertising birds and hatching eggs for sale in House Beautiful magazine as the “World’s Most Beautiful Turkey” and an “entirely new breed: silvery white with black bars.”

The beauty of the Royal Palms’ plumage captured the interest of the exhibitor, but the birds were never developed for growth rate or muscling. They remained a small variety and weren’t considered for commercial meat production. Their niche market limited them to a small population. In 1971, the variety was admitted to the APA Standard of Perfection. In recent years, it’s earned an entry in the Slow Food Foundation for Biodiversity’s Ark of Taste.

Conservation Status

In the 1990s, the Livestock Conservancy (TLC) and Society for Preservation of Poultry Antiquities (SPPA) were concerned about the dwindling of standard turkey varieties while double-breasted types dominated commercial breeding. Each carried out a census in 1997 revealing critically low breeding populations. Of the Royal Palm variety, TLC recorded only 381 hens plus around 38 toms in hatcheries, while SPPA recorded 717 breeding birds in hatcheries and private breeders’ farms. Either way, these numbers placed Royal Palms, and standard varieties generally, close to extinction.

The Livestock Conservancy’s subsequent campaign to save heritage lines has encouraged homesteaders and small farmers to appreciate their smaller size, hardiness, and natural adaptation. Royal Palm populations have increased from their original “Critical” classification to “Watch” status on the Conservation Priority List. In 2015, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) recorded a breeding population of 2,414.

Characteristics of the Royal Palm Turkey

Description

Somewhat smaller than most domestic turkeys, they retain natural conformation, but with a unique black and white plumage. Like all turkeys, the skin on the head and neck is bare (or lightly hairy in the case of the female) and its color changes from blue and white to red with emotional arousal. This is more pronounced in the male. As they mature, males grow an elongated snood drooping over the beak.

Plumage Color

The plumage bears a distinctive metallic black pattern on a white ground. Most feathers are white with black banding, while the male’s saddle and beard are black. The white tail bears a thick black band with white tips. The pattern is similar to the Narragansett’s but with white replacing the gray and brown markings. Indeed, offspring sometimes have gray/brown markings and the pattern is difficult to perfect for exhibition. Some breeders cross Royal Palms with other varieties, aiming to replace the black markings with other colors (for example, blue).

Features

• Skin color: off-white to cream;
• Eye color: light brown;
• Beak color: pale horn;
• Shanks and toe color: pink, darkening with age;
• Egg color: pale cream to brown with darker speckles.

Temperament

Royal Palms are generally curious, friendly, and easily tamed, but much depends on breeder preferences and raising methods. Toms may be aggressive toward other species.

Adaptability

Like other standard varieties, Royal Palm turkeys breed naturally and unaided. Hens build a nest of eggs in a secluded location. They incubate, hatch and raise their young (called poults rather than chicks). They’re great foragers with an appetite for insects. Their ability to find their own food and their hardiness make them an economical choice for the homesteader. Their adaptation to the Florida climate makes them more heat-tolerant than other varieties. They thrive in a free-range environment where they can actively forage and explore. New keepers should be aware that they retain the ability to fly and perch so that they can provide suitable perches and fencing.

Biodiversity

Small populations inevitably risk diminished genetic diversity. However, Royal Palms have retained traits for natural breeding and hardiness that have been lost to industrial strains. In broad-breasted varieties, selection for large size and meatiness has reduced their genetic diversity. Conversely, the Royal Palm and other standard varieties have been able to store a greater range of genetic differences between them. These reserves will enable turkeys to adapt to future changes. With careful selection to avoid inbreeding, healthy populations can be maintained.

Productivity of the Royal Palm Turkey

Popular Use

Traditionally kept for exhibition, they’re nonetheless perfectly suited to homestead and small-farm free-range systems. They excel at pest control due to their skill at hunting bugs and their smaller size is more suitable for family production.

Breed Averages

• Yield: 20 to 50 eggs per year;
• Egg size: large (around 2½ ounces/70 g);
• Weight: adult hens, around 12 pounds; toms, 20 to 22 pounds; young birds (about 28 weeks) 10 to 16 pounds.

Sources

• The Livestock Conservancy
• The Society for the Conservation of Old and Endangered Livestock Breeds (GEH)
• Sponenberg, D.P., Hawes, R.O., Johnson, P. and Christman, C.J., 2000. Turkey conservation in the United States. Animal Genetic Resources, 27, 59–66.
• American Turkey Journal, 8(1). March 1939.
• Lead photo taken at Homestead Organics, Montana. Photo credit: USDA NRCS Montana.

Originally published in the October/November 2024 issue of Backyard Poultry and regularly vetted for accuracy.