Skip to main content

Beltsville Small White Turkey

The Beltsville Small White turkey is a breed of domestic turkey which was originated from the United States. It was developed during the beginning in 1934. And it was developed in response to market research that said consumers wanted a turkey of small to medium size with no dark pinfeathers.

The breed was named after both of it's physical characteristics and origin place. It's a relatively smaller sized bird with entirely white plumage, and it's place of origin is the USDA's Beltsville Agricultural Research Center in Maryland.

In a breeding program at the Beltsville Center, the USDA used Bronze, Narragansett, White Holland, White Austrian and wild turkey genetics. The breeding program lasted from 1934 to 1941. Main of the program was to develop a bird that was meaty, well-finished and free from dark pin feathers. And during the 1940s, the Beltsville Small White turkey was used commercially. And it was officially recognized by the American Poultry Association in 1951.

The Beltsville Small White turkey breed had nearly disappeared by the 1970s, and the Broad Breasted White turkeys had come into prominence. The Beltsville Small White is still a rare breed, and it is listed as 'critical' by The Livestock Conservancy. Read some more information about this domestic turkey breed below.

Beltsville Small White Turkey Characteristics

The Beltsville Small White turkey is a small to medium sized bird with beautiful appearance. It has completely white plumage, with red to bluish white head.

beltsville small white turkey, about beltsville small white turkey, beltsville small white turkey appearance, beltsville small white turkey breed, beltsville small white turkey breed info, beltsville small white turkey breed facts, beltsville small white turkey behavior, beltsville small white turkey care, caring beltsville small white turkey, beltsville small white turkey color, beltsville small white turkey characteristics, beltsville small white turkey development, beltsville small white turkey eggs, beltsville small white turkey facts, beltsville small white turkey for meat, beltsville small white turkey farms, beltsville small white turkey farming, beltsville small white turkey genetics, beltsville small white turkey history, beltsville small white turkey info, beltsville small white turkey images, beltsville small white turkey meat, beltsville small white turkey origin, beltsville small white turkey photos, beltsville small white turkey pictures, beltsville small white turkey rarity, beltsville small white turkey rearing, raising beltsville small white turkey, beltsville small white turkey size, beltsville small white turkey temperament, beltsville small white turkey tame, beltsville small white turkey uses, beltsville small white turkey varieties, beltsville small white turkey weight

Beard of these birds is black and the beak is of horn color. Their eyes are dark brown, and the shanks and toes are pinkish white. Average live body weight of the mature Beltsville Small White toms is around 7.7 kg. And the mature hen's average live body weight is around 4.5 kg. Photo and info from Wikipedia.

Uses

The Beltsville Small White turkey is a meat breed. It is raised mainly for meat production.

Special Notes

The Beltsville Small White turkeys have good reproduction qualities (including the ability to mate naturally). They can be selected, bred and maintained by small-scale farmers easily.

They are raised mainly for meat production. Today they are quite rare and mainly raised by a few exhibition breeders. There has been a revival of interest in these birds in recent years.

Efforts are underway for locating and conserving any remnant flocks in the United States and Canada. However, review full breed profile of this breed in the following chart.

Breed NameBeltsville Small White
Other NamesNone
Breed PurposeMainly meat
Special NotesVery strong and hardy birds, these birds have good reproduction qualities, able to mate naturally, easily maintained by small-scale farmers, today raised mainly for meat production, currently quite rare breed
Breed SizeSmall to medium
TomAround 7.7 kg
HenAround 4.5 kg
Climate ToleranceAlmost all climates
ColorWhite
RarityRare
Country/Place of OriginUnited States

Comments

Popular Posts

Murray Grey Cattle

The Murray Grey cattle are a breed of beef cattle from Australia. It was developed in the upper Murray River valley on the New South Wales. The breed was developed in 1905 from an initial chance mating of a black Aberdeen Angus bull and a roan Shorthorn cow during the Federation drought. From these matings the resulting thirteen dun-grey calves were kept as curiosities. And then Peter and Ena Sutherland bred them on the Thologolong property along the Murray River in New South Wales. Murray Grey cattle grew faster and were good converters of feed and produced quality carcases. These are the reasons this animals become very popular after their development. And local farmers became interested soon in these animals and began breeding them. The first large scale commercial farms were established in the 1940s. Today the breed is available in many countries. Both live Murray Grey cattle and embryos have been exported to many countries such as Canada, South America, New Ze...

Sorting Cattle

Sorting cattle is important if you have a large number of animals. For better management you will need to separate the animals into different groups depending on their age, size, gender or condition score. If some cattle of your herd need to be examined by a veterinarian or confined due to injury or illness, then separation may also need to be done. Sorting is also needed for separating the calves that need to be weaned from their mothers. And separating the bulls is also necessary after they have done their duty with breeding cows. Sorting Cattle Sorting cattle is not actually a difficult task. It can be done easily if you understand stockmanship principles that take advantage of bovine psychology and behavior. However, here we are describing more about the ways of sorting cattle. Sorting From a Squeeze Chute In this system you can move your cattle through a working corral into a chute system into the squeeze. In this system you can check and process animals f...

Andalusian Black Cattle Farming

Andalusian Black cattle farming is not too popular, even in it's native area. It is a relatively rare breed which is valued for meat production. But today, the breed is listed as 'endangered', and total number of the breed is very less. The Andalusian Black cattle is a taurine cattle breed, and it was originated in west Andalusia, Spain. It is also known by some other names such as Negra de las Campiñas, Negra Campiñesa and Spanish: Negra Andaluza. The Andalusian Black cattle is actually a beef cattle breed which is raised primarily for meat production purpose. The breed is found in two main areas of west Andalusia (from Cordova to the foothills of the Sierra Morena), and in the provinces of Seville, Cádiz and Huelva. Today, total population of the Andalusian Black cattle breed is very less. And there were about 800 purebred cattle in the year of 2007. Total number of this breed decreased mainly for crossbreeding with other local cattle breeds. Other reason...

Belted Galloway Cattle Farming

Belted Galloway cattle farming is popular, especially in it's native area. It is a beef cattle breed and raised mainly for meat production purpose. The breed is also known by some other names such as Beltie, Oreo Cow and Panda Cow. The Belted Galloway cattle breed was originated from Galloway in the west side of Southern Scotland. It is a heritage breed, and is well adapted to living on the poor upland pastures and wildswept moorlands of the region. Exact origins of the breed are unclear. But it is often surmised that the white belt of the breed may be a result of cross breeding with the Dutch Lakenvelder belted cattle. And the breed is named so mainly because of the belt. An association for the breed named the Belted Galloway Association was formed in 1921 in Scotland. And the name of the association was changed to Belted Galloway Society in the year of 1951. The association keeps and records pedigrees for Belted Galloways and oversees the registration of White and Re...

Cleaning A Cow

Cleaning a cow in the proper way can keep the animal look and feel fresh. Cleaning also help to prevent external parasites. You may also need to clean your cow to show it off at your local county fair or other occasions. And you need to clean your cows more often especially if you have dairy cows. You can integrate a spraying system for cleaning a cow once a day or so. Along with cleaning the body, you should also provide a footbath for better health of the cow's hooves. However, here we are describing more about the process of cleaning a cow. Sprinkler System Add Sprinkler in a Pre-milking Wash Pen You can construct a pre-milking wash pen with sprinklers for cleaning multiple cows. In this system, install sprinklers all along the pen you hold the cows in before milking. Using concrete for the floor will be good. It will help to keep the floor dry quickly and you will not have a constantly muddy area. You should spray sprinklers both up and down to wash the cows th...

Agerolese Cattle Farming

Agerolese cattle farming is not common, even in it's native area. It is a dairy cattle breed which is raised mainly for milk production purpose in it's native area. It is a pretty rare breed and not available outside it's native area. The Agerolese cattle is actually from the area of Agerola, in Campania in southern Italy. It was developed from cross-breeding of indigenous Podolica cattle with Bruna Italiana, Italian Holstein-Friesian and Jersey cattle. The breed is particularly associated with the Sorrento Peninsula and Monti Lattari. The Agerolese cattle is one of the 16 minor Italian cattle breeds of limited diffusion recognized and protected by the Ministero delle Politiche Agricole Alimentari e Forestali, the Italian ministry of agriculture. There were a total of 200 animals available according to a census completed on 1 January 2002. And the conservation status of the Agerolese cattle breed was reported by the FAO as 'endangered-maintained' in 200...

Ankole-Watusi Cattle Farming

Ankole-Watusi cattle farming is pretty popular, especially in it's native area. It is a multi-purpose breed of domestic cattle which is raised and valued for show, draught, meat and milk production purpose. The Ankole-Watusi cattle is a landrace breed, a type of Sanga cattle and originally native to East Africa. It is also known as Ankole Longhorn, and also sometimes known simply as Ankole or Watusi. Ankole-Watusi cattle is actually an ancient breed, and ancient rock paintings and depictions of these animals have been observed in the Sahara region and in the Egyptian arts and pyramid walls. The Sanga breed has spread to the Sudan, Uganda, Kenya and some other parts of Eastern Africa, becoming the base stock of the indigenous African cattle populations. It has most of the usual Zebu characteristics such as the pendulous dewlap and sheath, hump of variable size and the upturned horns. The Ankole-Watusi cattle have played a very important role in the lives of various ...