Welcome to Miller Farms, where we're saving the older, heritage breeds of turkeys for the next generation. If your grandparents lived in the country, chances are good they had a few chickens and turkeys running around - and you can bet they weren't Butterballs.

The Bourbon Red turkey was the butterball of the early 20th century. They were (are) an excellent meat bird that forages for it's food around the homestead - grass, weeds, seeds, fruits, vegetables and the occasional grasshopper. The reason they still aren't the Thanksgiving bird of choice is because producers wanted a larger breast on their turkey.

The result was the modern Thanksgiving bird - The Broad Breasted White - a double-breasted bird that grew to market weight in almost half the time. The trade-off is that the toms have short legs and large breasts that won't allow them to reproduce - without the help of a guy in a lab coat.

Royal Palms are active, thrifty turkeys, excellent foragers, and good flyers. Standard weights are 16 pounds for young toms and 10 pounds for young hens. The Royal Palm has not been purposefully selected for either growth rate or muscling, being used primarily as an exhibition variety. If you prefer a smaller turkey, the Royal Palm might be for you.

Regardless of the turkey you choose, you can depend upon it being more juicy and flavorful than the Butterball you had last Thanksgiving.