Porter's Rare Heritage Turkeys

Oregon Gray

Oregon Gray

The Light Gray, later known as the Oregon Gray turkey variety, has been considered extinct for over a decade now as the last known pair died back in the late 1990's. But they can be recreated since the necessary genes are present in several other heritage turkey varieties.

I successfully re-created them with an experimental breeding group of turkeys that I called Silver Dapple, which carried all the necessary genes.

The Oregon gray has white under plumage with grayish-black pigmentation about the edges of the body feathers. The typical black and white colored barring in the wing feathers appears as a mixing of the two colors without definition.

The adult pattern resembles the palm pattern but is different.

Toms are a shade darker than hens. At hatch, the gray poult has a yellow-gray down color with dark black or brown stripes on its back.

I have found through test breeding over the years that Oregon Grays are actually homozygous bronze based with a single gray and white allele at the color locus, as well as the addition of the Narragansett mutation to create this phenotype.

Genotype: bb cgc nn for males and n- at the Narragansett locus for hens.

This variety produces three results: Oregon gray, dark gray, and white.

Approx. Mature Weights: Toms 33 pounds and hens 18 pounds.


Oregon Gray Female


Oregon Gray, 7-8 Weeks


Oregon Gray Poults

Oregon Gray poult color/pattern at hatch



Oregon Gray Feathers

Oregon Gray feather color/pattern