The Naked Neck chicken first appeared in Romania and Transylvania in about the 1920s. These birds lacking neck feathers, were selectively bred, soon becoming popular and eventually spreading into England and the United States in the 1960s. The Naked Neck chicken is an officially recognized breed by the American Poultry Association and the American Bantam Association.

Unlike the name implies, the Turken is NOT a mix between a turkey and a chicken. It is simply a chicken breed with a trait that gives it less feathers. There are actually 50% less feathers on a Turken, as compared to a regular chicken. That’s right, the neck isn’t the only “naked” part of a Turken. If you look at the underneath side of a Turken, you’ll find a lack of feathers on the underbelly, underneath the wings, and near the vent.

 

The BMP12 gene is responsible for omitting 50% of the normally occurring feathers on the Turken. This gene tells particular areas of the chicken’s skin to not grow placodes, which are the feather follicles.

This gene is “incomplete dominant,” meaning with a Naked Neck parent, you’ll have a 50% chance of the chick being a naked neck. Any breed can be mixed with Naked Necks, and cross breeding is rampant. You can get some very interesting backyard Turken mixes. These “half breeds” will often have a naked neck, but also a small tuft of feathers on the neck, called a bib. Turkens can come in a variety of colors, and this mainly has to do with all the breeds they can mix with. (We have a backyard mix Naked Neck hen who is partridge patterned and lays blue eggs!)

The true Naked Neck breed is only accepted in 4 colors (black, buff, red, and white), but that only really matters if you show your poultry.

Less feathers make the Naked Neck especially heat tolerant. The breed is wildly popular in South America, where the climate is regularly hot and humid. Despite this, Turkens also are hardy in cold zones, and are some of the most cold hardy, single combed chicken breeds out here!  Feathers are made up mostly of protein. Less protein needed to grow fathers, means a Naked Neck can put those extra protein reserves to work. This results in more protein going to the muscles, thus making them excellent meat birds-not to mention- easy to pluck!

Turkens are productive layers, laying around 250 tan eggs per year. Our Turken hens have always been some of our most faithful layers! They are the first to fly of the handles, screaming their way out the coop door when we check eggs, but they are super productive!

That being said, in my personal experience, Naked Neck chickens, especially the hens, can be flighty. They are small, swift birds who are always on the lookout. The roosters make great flock protectors and are very vigilant. Our current rooster is a 4 year old Turken named Chimp. Chimp has been our rooster for all these years and he runs tirelessly all day, checking on his hens. The breed makes awesome free rangers who have the grit to survive! New research has recently proven that the same gene responsible for less feathering, the BMP12 gene, also leads to healthier, more disease resistant birds!

Whether you think they’re cute, or think they’re ugly, these are great chickens and I am sure you’ll be seeing more of them in backyard flocks!