GEORGETOWN, Ky. – If this year’s Thanksgiving or Christmas turkey dinner rated just so-so on the “yummy scale,” then maybe next time shy away from the discount birds offered by the local food store.

In the 15 years Elmwood Stock Farm in Georgetown has been raising organic, pasture-raised turkeys, the Kentucky Proud farm has attracted national attention.

Elmwood’s heritage breed turkeys were “recommended” in a taste test by Cook’s Illustrated. It was the only organic turkey to receive such a distinction from the national magazine, which described the flavor as “rich without gamy notes” with a “texture like velvet.”

“We had about 500 this year for Thanksgiving tables and we shipped to families in more than 40 states,” said Mac Stone, the farm’s owner.

Vogue Magazine called Elmwood Stock Farm the “Best Place to Order heritage turkeys.” The Spruce Eats listed Elmwood among the nation’s 11 best mail-order turkeys, naming its Broad Breasted Bronze variety the “Best of Large Gatherings.” According to Elmwood’s sales, the 15- to 22-pound Broad Breasted birds sell out weeks in advance.

Elmwood’s heritage turkeys are not of one particular breed but made up of a group of breeds. They include Narragansetts (the oldest-known American breed), Slate turkeys (a variety named for its color, which is solid to ashy blue over the entire body), a few Bourbon Reds (named after neighboring Bourbon County) and Broad Breasted Bronze.

“The Narragansett is sleeker, they’re smarter and they communicate with each other, they have this communal brain,” Stone said. “They still have that natural instinct like their wild cousins, but they’re domesticated to where they stay here, and we can feed them and take care of them.”

Stone had a challenge on hand as the heritage breeds can fly.

“It took a few years to learn to get an animal that flies into a cattle trailer,” Stone said, noting he uses netting to contain the birds when loading them.

Stone’s intention two decades ago was to raise the heritage turkeys to prevent the birds’ extinction.

“About 15 years ago, we were asked by the Livestock Conservancy to help preserve these heritage breeds,” Stone said. “I told them we’re not in the zoo business, but if you can eat them, we’ll raise them.”

Stone said his heritage breeds are raised on pasture using USDA-certified organic standards.

“Our turkeys are free ranging, kept outdoors on grass pasture and fed wholesome, organic grains, resulting in moist, flavorful turkey without the use of synthetic inputs, flavor additives or stimulants,” he said.

“The use of certified-organic grain along with the time and care it takes to raise turkeys outdoors on pasture means our turkeys are more expensive to produce, but you can take comfort knowing no antibiotics, no GMO grains and not synthetic chemicals are used to produce your food. USDA organic certification ensures third-party verification of our production practices and ultimately results in better health for you, your family and all the guests around the table.”

The Elmwood turkeys’ diets consist of grass and bugs supplemented by organic feed.

“We move the turkeys around the pasture so they’re always on fresh grass,” Stone said. “We give them feed from organic grain farmers in western Kentucky. The corn/soybean ration is roasted so fat remains in the beans. The unique flavor leads to a lot of repeat customers.”

This season’s heritage breeds originated from a breeding flock of about 60 hens and six toms. The Broad Breasted turkeys, however, can’t produce offspring, so Stone orders them through the mail.

“They send poults one day old,” Stone said, noting they originate from a hatchery in Ohio. “The eggs hatch on Sunday, and I pick them up on Monday.”

Stone said the young poults are very vocal when they arrive in special ventilated boxes at the Georgetown Post Office.

“The postal workers call me and say, ‘Please come get them, they’re driving us crazy squawking’.”

Some characteristics that distinguish these rare heritage turkeys from the broad-breasted variety are slower growth, more proportionate breasts to legs and the ability to naturally breed. They are naturally smaller birds with a slimmer, longer shape and not round like grocery-store varieties that are bred for fast growth.

There is also a better balance between the dark meat and white meat, and the meat has a richer flavor. The skin may also be a different color than the near-transparent white of commercial birds, as skin color is related to feather color, and heritage breeds are feathered in a variety of bronze, black, brown, gray, white and red colors.

Some birds from this farm will command up to $299. And Stone said it’s worth it.

“Yeah, they’re paying a lot of money, but they know where it’s going, they know they’re gonna keep this land farming longer, and again the taste is the total difference,” he said.