The Slate, or Blue Slate, is a

breed A breed is a specific group of breedable domestic animals having homogeneous appearance (phenotype), homogeneous behavior, and/or other characteristics that distinguish it from other organisms of the same species. In literature, there exist seve ...

domestic turkey The domestic turkey (''Meleagris gallopavo domesticus'') is a large fowl, one of the two species in the genus ''Meleagris'' and the same species as the wild turkey. Although turkey domestication was thought to have occurred in central Mesoamerica ...

known for the slate gray color of its

plumage Plumage () is a layer of feathers that covers a bird and the pattern, colour, and arrangement of those feathers. The pattern and colours of plumage differ between species and subspecies and may vary with age classes. Within species, there can b ...

. Lighter birds are sometimes called Lavender turkeys. Turkeys of the Slate breed may actually be any number of shades between pure

black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...

and white, but only ash-gray birds are eligible for showing under the directive of the

American Poultry Association The American Poultry Association (APA) is the oldest poultry organization in North America. It was founded in 1873, and incorporated in Indiana in 1932. The first American poultry show was held in 1849, and the APA was later formed in respons ...

’s ‘’

Standard of Perfection The ''American Standard of Perfection'' is the official book of breed standards of the American Poultry Association. It classifies and describes the standard physical appearance, coloring and temperament for many breeds of poultry recognized i ...

’’, into which they admitted as a variety in 1874. Slate turkeys are listed as critically endangered by the

American Livestock Breeds Conservancy The Livestock Conservancy, formerly known as the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy (ALBC) and prior to that, the American Minor Breeds Conservancy, is a nonprofit organization focused on preserving and promoting rare breeds, also known as ...

, and meet the definition of a

heritage turkey A heritage turkey is one of a variety of strains of domestic turkey which retains historic characteristics that are no longer present in the majority of turkeys raised for consumption since the mid-20th century. Heritage turkeys can be different ...

breed.

References

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References

See also