Nero d’Italia
Geographic origin: Lombardy
Estimated total population size: 35 (Castillo et al., 2021)
Extinction risk status (FAO, 1998): Critical conserved
Historical origin of the breed
Even if the selection of the breed is recent, Nero d’Italia turkeys origin from a black turkey population spread throughout northern Italy before the introduction of American Bronze turkey. It is credible that Nero d’Italia breed could originate from the ancient French breed Noir de Solange, once very appreciated in crossbreedings to improve local populations.
In the past, Nero d’Italia females were used as brooding females, due to their very good brooding aptitude and to their light weight, which is not dangerous in case of stepping on the chicks.
Bibliography
STANDARD ITALIANO DELLE RAZZE AVICOLE Manual, FIAV, 2013-14
Qualitative morphological traits
Plumage colours: Black
Colour features: Single colour
Colour pattern: Brilliant black throughout with black down both in the male and in the female. A slight bronze edging on back and tail feathers is admitted.
Head: Naked in the male, slightly feathered in the female on the central part of the skull
Neck: Medium-lengthed, arched
Caruncles: Well developed, on the head and the naked part of the neck, larger on the lower part; red, changing to blueish-white when excited. The fleshy protruberance above the beak elongates during excitement, more in the male than in the female.
Iris colour: Dark
Beak colour: Dark
Skin colour: White
Shank colour: Black in young birds, dark red to purple in the adult
Shank feathering: Free from feathers
Reproductive and productive quantitative traits
Body weight and growth data
Genetic traits
Characterisation of the breed with Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs)
The presented data were registered in the nucleus population conserved at the University of Milan (UniMI).
Latest update: January 26th, 2024
Germplasm collection
0
The breed has yet to be conserved in our Cryobank.
