By Bonnie Azab Powell

The man with the most widely recognized name in the humanely raised beef, pork, and lamb business is about to unveil his “maiden voyage” into unexplored protein territory. Bill Niman, who founded Niman Ranch in the 1970s, will sell 50 to 100 heritage turkeys from his very first flock at Bi-Rite Market in time for Thanksgiving.

The term “heritage” is restricted by the American Poultry Association to certain older, pre-industrial breeds that can mate naturally, enjoy a long, productive lifespan outside, and have a slow to moderate rate of growth, requiring 28 weeks or more to reach market weight. And Niman, who left Niman Ranch last year but is still its largest stakeholder, is not just raising them for sustainably minded Bay Area foodies’ holiday dinner tables, but to establish a breeding flock of heritage turkeys on his ranch in Bolinas.

The nation’s preeminent heritage turkey breeder is Frank Reese in Lindsborg, Kansas, who traces his flock’s lineage back more than 100 generations. So that’s exactly to whom Niman went for his 250 Holland White, Narragansett, Bronze, Spanish Black, Bourbon Red, and Royal Palm cross chicks. “We wanted to extend the precious gene pool that Frank has created, as well as preserve it on the other side of the Continental Divide in case something happens, like avian flu,” explains Niman.

Most poultry breeders send day-old chicks via overnight delivery. Not Reese. “Frank won’t ship them that way, no way,” says Niman. “He says it stresses the birds too much.” So Bill and his wife, Nicolette Hahn Niman, drove to Kansas for the hatching, and then straight through back to Bolinas: “36 hours—it was long, but we had a chirping good time,” laughs Bill.

The turkeys are now twice as big as when these photos were taken in early July, Niman says. They have been walking and flying—unlike industrial turkeys, these don’t have the overdeveloped breasts that prevent flight, although they can’t go far—around 20 acres of irrigated pasture on the Nimans’ 1,000-acre ranch, where the couple have a small herd of grass-fed beef cattle and 1,000 goats. The Nimans are trying to create a model diversified farm, and “pasture-raised fowl is a big piece of that.” Niman also reveals that they’re working on creating a brandnew, “super-premium” meat business.

Once their breeding flock is established, the Nimans hope to be able to provide their version of Reese’s genetics to other local small farmers. (Not everyone is willing to drive to Kansas to get chicks.) The ideal ratio of toms to hens for a breeding flock is 20 to 1, so that means they will be selling just male birds to Bi-Rite, in the 20- to 30-pound range. “Under these circumstances it’s best to be female even though it’s a male’s world,” jokes Niman. Bi-Rite will offer smaller heritage birds from Heritage Foods USA, which also works with Reese, as well as organic and other turkeys from responsible sources. But reserve early, as Bi-Rite has sold out of heritage birds every year.

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