POULTRYAUSTRALASIAN 17

Seeing RedBy Megg Miller

Sergio Bestulic sees red every day; heis developing a flock of Bourbon Redturkeys. Situated on two acres in theCamden area of southwest Sydney, hefinds the lifestyle block perfect for a hob-byist wanting to keep a good number ofturkeys happy.‘I do most of the work with the birds,

but my wife Vicki and kids do get pulledinto the day-to-day chores, whether it’sproviding fresh food or water or penningthe turkeys up at night’, Sergio said.

Starting OffTurkeys were not a species high on the listof must-haves for Sergio, it wasn’t untilhe had a snake problem that he becamefamiliar with them. ‘My neighbourMichael Peel gave me a Bronze hen and aBourbon Red gobbler to run around thepaddock to help out with snake issues.Several months later they got taken by afox, and very generously my neighbourgave me a pair of Bourbon Reds. Thiskick-started my interest in Reds.‘Looking for quality stock to develop a

line proved difficult as people either mis-categorised their birds (there is adifference between Bourbon Red andBuff) or they were simply not what I waslooking for. In the end I picked up a beau-tiful hen from Daryl Deutscher(Deutscher’s Turkey Farm in Victoria)and haven’t looked back’, Sergio said.

Goals and ChallengesSergio became fascinated by the turkeysand says that he set out to learn as muchabout them as possible. He also wanted tosee if he could successfully incubate,hatch and rear a clutch of poults. Being thesort of person who does things by thebook, and perfectly at that, he successfullyincubated and reared a clutch of 10 poults.‘It was after this I got talked into enter-

ing a couple of my turkeys in the SydneyRoyal. Being new to it all my only expec-tation was to gain experience, but to mysurprise not only was experience gainedbut also several awards. Since this initialsuccess my goal has been to produce thebest Bourbon Red line of turkeys withinthe next five years. I’ve made steadyprogress over the past three years with

each batch producing better quality birdsthan those from the previous year’, Sergiosaid.To date he hasn’t been plagued by com-

mon turkey problems like disease,infertility or poor hatchability. In fact, hesays he has found the species relativelyeasy to work with, applying the sameprinciples he has used in looking afterfowls. This is great news because such anapproach doesn’t always work withturkeys.‘My main challenge has come from

foxes. Securing perimeter fencing andpenning birds in secure accommodation atnight has helped reduce the losses tofoxes. My other challenge has been a lessdramatic one – keeping up with pen build-ing. Just when I think I’m set up and haveenough pens… another is required!‘I believe turkeys are more susceptible

to illness than other birds we’ve kept, thatis, chickens and quail, so I’d encourage

any newcomer to turkeys to familiarisethemselves with signs of oncoming illnessand to isolate and possibly medicate thebird to ensure its return to health again’,Sergio advised.

A Champion BirdSuccess has been achieved this year forSergio with a gobbler he bred and callsFritz. ‘He is unique in that I saw some-thing special in him from a very early age.He just stood out in colour and stature soI tagged him much earlier than I wouldnormally tag a bird and kept a close eyeon him.‘He is a beautiful rich red with good tail

colouring and a fairly passive tempera-ment. He also constantly displays, it’salmost as though he likes the attention.‘Fritz’s winning success at the Camden

Poultry Show earlier in the year was over-whelming. He took out first in his class,Best Turkey, Champion Land Fowl in

Fritz, Sergio’s home-bred Bourbon Red gobbler, an impressive example of this rarevariety.

Show and Grand Champion Bird of Show.‘Fritz did very well at this year’s Royal

Easter Show too, taking out first in hisclass, Champion Bourbon Red, ReserveChampion Turkey and a special award. Hethen appeared in a segment on turkeys onthe morning Sunrise show in Sydneyfilmed on location at the Royal EasterShow.‘He’s going to be taking a well-earned

rest in the forthcoming months beforebeing asked to fulfil stud duties. And Icertainly plan on showing Fritz again nextyear, but if all goes well he will be accom-panied by his offspring.’

To contact Sergio to talk about turkeysph: 0405-221-283. �

Bourbon RedMalePlumage is rich dark brownish red,feathers edged in black except on theneck, where they are solid colour, theprimary and secondary wing feathers,which are solid white, and the tail, themain feathers being white with anindistinct red bar crossing toward theend so a continuous red band is created.

FemalesFemales display a similar plumagecolour to that of the male (in reality it isalways considerably lighter), but freeof black edging, instead narrow whiteedging is found on breast feathers.Undercolour should be red, fading to

salmon close to the skin.Both sexes: Beak is horn colour,

eyes medium brown and legs and feetpinkish red, the colour deepening withage.

18 POULTRY

Buff Male and FemalePlumage on the Buff variety is a deepcinnamon brown (this is a yellowishbrown), the colour even over all thebody except for the wings, where theprimary and secondary feathers arewhite, free of buff markings.Note: the British Poultry Standards

now allows wing feathers to be verypale buff, almost white and the tail tocarry a pale band of edging at the tip.Some Australian breeders believe

that Buff and Bourbon Red stock havebeen mated together in past decadeswith both varieties being adverselyaffected. It is rare to see Buff of aneven shade with most, especially thefemales, displaying noticeable creamor pale buff bibs on the top of thebreast.Beak is light horn, eyes dark hazel

with a blue-black pupil and legs andfeet flesh pink. �

Standard for Red and Buff Turkeys

AUSTRALASIAN