Field Notes | Entry No. 06 | 3 Sept, 2021. Subject: Lone Feather. A lone turkey tail feather stands tall in the mid-summer grass.

Coming of Age

2022 Hill Country, Texas, United States

Made over the course of a year, this body of work follows the everyday life—and ultimate slaughter—of free range, heritage breed turkeys living on a regenerative ranch in the heart of the Texas Hill Country.

In stark contrast to most livestock turkeys who are hatched, raised, and processed on factory farms, these heritage breed birds participate in and contribute to their surrounding ecology, spending their days roaming through the same prairies, hunting the same insects, chasing the same snakes, dodging the same predators, and expressing their natural behaviors much the way their predecessors have done for generations. In addition to underpinning local ecological relationships, these turkeys are also specifically raised for human consumption. This begs the question: in what ways can regenerative agriculture and animal husbandry transform the human appetite into a generative force of nature?

Click or tap on each image to reveal the corresponding Field Notes.

Please note: this body of work includes images depicting graphic violence.

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Field Notes | Entry No. 07 | 3 Sept, 2021 Subject: Turkey Hutch. A rancher crouches down to greet young turkeys who are kept in a protected hutch for the first weeks of their lives to protect them against the elements and predators that they will soon encounter when they are released into the open prairie.

Field Notes | Entry No. 11 | 13 Sept, 2021. Subject: Open Field. After being released from their protective roosting hutch, young turkeys frolic in the fields for the first time—talking to one another, darting through the grass, playing hide-and-seek, and feasting on copious amounts of seeds, roots, forbs, grasses, and insects (with grasshoppers being a common favorite).

Field Notes | Entry No. 10 | 13 Sept, 2021. Subject: Flocking home. After a day of free ranging through the prairie, young turkeys trickle back to find a spot in one of several roosts for the evening. While adult turkeys generally roost in trees overnight, young turkeys aren’t yet able to command or secure a spot on the branches.

Field Notes | Entry No. 13 | 30 Sept, 2021. Subject: Dead Jake. The decapitated head of a 'Jake’—or a juvenile male turkey—rests on the native prairie grass of his former hunting grounds where he stalked grasshoppers and other insects. Game camera footage reveals that his fate was likely sealed by a Great Horned Owl, who frequented the ranch while the turkeys were small—and perhaps even naive—enough to be manageable prey.

Field Notes | Entry No. 12 | 14 Sept, 2021. Subject: Grain bowl. In addition to foraging for insects throughout the property, the turkeys also enjoy a supplemental diet of organic grains.

Field Notes | Entry No. 29 | 26 Oct, 2021. Subject: Turkey hoard. These heritage breed turkeys are incredibly curious and precocious creatures who will come running in large groups to investigate anything that they might consider new, strange, or different. With other animals, it can be challenging to get close enough to make their image. With these turkeys, they see me and run across the field right up to the lens—so close that I can’t focus on them. I’m perpetually surrounded by them, as they peck curiously at any-thing that shines or dangles—my keys looped around my belt, the laces on my boots, my wedding ring...

Field Notes | Entry No. 41 | 27 Oct, 2021. Subject: Reflecting puddle. Turkeys gather at a fresh puddle created by relatively rare morning rain to drink, bathe, and socialize.

Field Notes | Entry No. 24 | 1 Oct, 2021. Subject: Bird's eye view. Our collective conception of a bird’s eye view is vastly too narrow—privileging the perspective from the sky rather than considering their experience down in the earth.

Field Notes | Entry No. 34 | 26 Oct, 2021. Subject: Lazy morning. Adolescent turkeys slowly wake and stir, sleeping in until shortly after sunrise. As a median step between the open-air metal coops and roosting in The Turkey Tree, these birds spend the night (and some of their day) in the “Goobly-Gobbler”—the name given to this dedicated wooden roost by the ranch proprietors.

Field Notes | Entry No. 16 | 26 Oct, 2021. Subject: The Turkey Tree. At dusk, adult turkeys secure a spot on “The Turkey Tree”—a favorite safe spot to spend the night on the ranch. Though not everyone can fit on this tree, virtually all of the turkeys will sleep in trees to evade nocturnal ground dwelling predators and these birds go to the same trees each and every evening.

Field Notes | Entry No. 19 | 30 Sept, 2021. Subject: Distant thunder. Lighting illuminates the contours of a far-off thunderstorm, which rolls through the Hill Country well beyond the ranch. However, the native prairie ecosystem thrives despite relatively little rainfall. By strategically tapping into and honoring this ecology through animal husbandry and other regenerative agriculture principles, the ranch flourishes in-step with natural rhythms. By contrast, many of the surrounding farms relying on extractive, industrialized approaches (e.g., mono-cropping, synthetic fertilizer, pesticide use, etc.) are vastly more susceptible to soil erosion, run-off, and nutrient depletion. It’s a stark contrast made possible—in part—by the presence of wild and heritage breed turkeys throughout the property.

$Field Notes | Entry No. 46 | 19 Nov, 2021. Subject: Iridescence. Like many other bird species, turkey feathers create color without necessarily relying on pigmentation. Known as structural color, the micro- or nano-structures in the individual fibers of each feather work together to refract light in such a way that produces the vibrant, highly saturated colorations that give turkey feathers—and tails—their distinct and celebrated beauty.$

Field Notes | Entry No. 45 | 19 Nov, 2021. Subject: Wild Rio Grande Tom. A wild Rio Grande Tom joins the flock of heritage breed turkeys. This intermingling of wild and ‘domesticated’ breeds is a meaningful occurrence for the ranchers, who interpret it as an indicator that they are successfully raising their turkeys in nature’s image. The say it’s “the greatest compliment at our ranch when native, wild Rio Grande turkeys struts around with our hens.”

Field Notes | Entry No. 27 | 26 Oct, 2021. Subject: Quizzical. Amidst the commotion of grazing and courting, a turkey paused to look at me—or perhaps check himself in the reflection of my lens. I’ll never be sure.

Field Notes | Entry No. 31 | 26 Oct, 2021. Subject: Taken flight. A turkey perched on one of many protected coops available to them for nesting on the ranch gets startled and flies out of frame in such a way that alludes to its probable fate during the upcoming Turkey Harvest events held at the ranch in the weeks to follow.

Field Notes | Entry No. 9 | 13 Sept, 2021. Subject: Floating. A single feather floats downward to the earth in the dense underbrush of endemic plants covering the ranch where wild and heritage breed turkeys spend their days foraging, frolicking, chasing snakes, and avoiding predators.

Field Notes | Entry No. 43 | 18 Nov, 2021. Subject: Blood Moon rising. Two roosting turkeys split their gaze between me and the full moon rising over the horizon the night before a turkey harvest. The clouds would later part as the moon ascends higher into the night sky, turning crimson red in the wee hours of the morning during a deep partial lunar eclipse in Taurus.

Field Notes | Entry No. 22 | 1 Oct, 2021. Subject: A disagreement. As these turkeys mature, both males and females are increasingly prone to fighting. In many cases, this comes to a head during mating season as male turkeys vie for dominance and the eye of onlooking mates. Here, two adolescents kick up considerable dust during breakfast. About what exactly, I’m not certain.

Field Notes | Entry No. 38 | 26 Oct, 2021. Subject: Nighttime turkey nab. Working under the cloak of darkness—and behind the disorientating beam of a high-output flashlight—a ranch worker nabs turkeys off low-hanging branches of the 'turkey tree’, where many flock to roost at night to avoid ground predators. The turkey pictured here will join others in a holding trailer for the night and will be slaughtered and processed the following morning.

Field Notes | Entry No. 40 | 27 Oct, 2021. Subject: Morning alarm. After one turkey sounds the alarm, the entire group all look alert and in the in the same direction. It doesn’t seem all that interesting on paper, but witnessing their collectively ability to concentrate their attention on a single shared point is profound. I had spent many months with them already ‘speaking’ turkey, which consisted of me saying “turkeys” and them all gobbling back in unison. Almost like it was an impulse. And while I can’t describe how, I slowly began to glean more information from nuances in their language. While making this image, I noticed them sound the alarm and knew that there was a winged predator—in this case a circling caracara high up to my left—searching for food just after sunrise.

Field Notes | Entry No. 47 | 19 Nov, 2021. Subject: Iris. One of the most surprising and fulfilling aspects of this body of work was the close proximity I was able to have with the turkeys. They accepted me right from the start, likely because they knew me from their childhood (though they are also just really social). As I became closer to them, I began to notice how beautiful their eyes are. At once young and ancient, their irises feel rather mercurial. Perhaps this is because despite our bond, I understand that they are among the most dangerous animals on the ranch—more so than the bison, I’m told. The ranchers shared that the turkeys are relatively quick to approach anyone who’s fainted to peck at their eyes, perhaps even taking them out. Are they teasing me? Is this apocryphal? Am I going to find out?

Field Notes | Entry No. 54 | 19 Nov, 2021. Subject: Catching turkeys. Husband and wife work together to catch enough birds in preparation for the community turkey harvest event the following day. This process is decidedly more difficult for free ranging, heritage breed turkeys who are more than capable of evading predators and defending themselves. But, they’re also subject to their own nature. Once a rancher grabs a turkey, they hold it by the feet so it lays flat on the ground. Not able to help themselves, some surrounding turkeys then approach—perhaps out of curiosity or because they are prone to attacking others while they are down. Either way, once they are also in arm’s length, the rancher lunges out to grab another by the leg, and the process repeats.

Field Notes | Entry No. 55 | 19 Nov, 2021. Subject: Final count. Two ranchers count the number of turkeys they’ve gathered to ensure there are enough for the community harvest event the following day. Throughout the seasons, the ranch hosts several Turkey Harvest events where people purchase tickets to come to the land to select, slaughter, and process a turkey to take home. While there is often a fine line between entertainment and meaningfully connecting to our local ecology, these events often mark the first-time participants have had a hand in procuring their own food. Similarly, many participants shared that these events provide a rare—and often inaugural—opportunity to visit a farm.

Field Notes | Entry No. 4 | 2 Sept, 2021. Subject: First light. A lone turkey lingers in The Turkey Tree to groom and stretch their legs shortly after sunrise.

Field Notes | Entry No. 58 | 20 Nov, 2021. Subject: Draining. A woman holds the head of a turkey she just slaughtered to allow the blood to drain from its body before processing it. From here, the turkey will be submerged in boiling water, defeathered, eviscerated, rinsed, and tied off in a plastic bag to take home.

Field Notes | Entry No. 51 | 19 Nov, 2021. Subject: Processing turkeys. During a brief pause in processing, a carving knife rests on the table next to vital organs that were removed from a freshly slaughtered turkey, which was killed just steps away under the same oak tree.

Field Notes | Entry No. 61 | 20 Nov, 2021. Subject: Gut bucket. Discarded portions (including intestines, gizzards, and other organs) of various turkey carcasses rest in blood within a collection bucket. These viscera will ultimately be eaten by other animals on the ranch, such as pigs, dogs, cats, and chickens, among others.

Field Notes | Entry No. 01 | 2 Sept, 2022. Subject: A feather apiece. Throughout the seasons, the ranch hosts several Turkey Harvest events where people purchase tickets to come to the land to select, slaughter, and process a turkey to take home. While there is often a fine line between entertainment and meaningfully connecting to our local ecology, these events often mark the first-time participants have had a hand in procuring their own food. Similarly, many participants shared that these events provide a rare—if not their first—opportunity to visit a farm or ranch. For each turkey slaughtered, the ranchers ask that participants leave one tail feather per bird to remember them by. The feathers pictured are a handful of many turkeys that have lived and died on the ranch over the years.

Field Notes | Entry No. 03 | 2 Sept, 2021. Subject: Tom. A mature male turkey (also called a Tom) emerges from the brush to size up a well-meaning photographer. The adolescent and adult turkeys who survive the harvest season enjoy a slight reprieve from human appetites for another year, during which time they frolic, fight, mate, explore, and stir up mischief.

Many thanks to Katie Forrest and Taylor Collins for making this work possible—especially regarding your enthusiasm, openness, and hospitality. Thank you as well to Margaux Crump and James Tomeny for your astounding turkey herding abilities. I’m also grateful to Cindee Klement for bringing me to the ranch many, many moons ago. Finally, thank you to all the turkeys for accepting me into the flock, offering a glimpse into your world, and sharing such a profound experience. ✨🦃✨