Meet Tom and Tiffany, two turkeys who won’t be on the Thanksgiving table

While millions of Americans are chowing down on a turkey dinner on Thanksgiving, Tom and Tiffany, the Royal Palm turkeys at the Merced Fruit Barn, will get to enjoy a day of sunshine and relaxing.

“They won’t have to entertain visitors,” said Heidi Raggio, Merced Fruit Barn owner. “Many ask if we will be eating Tom, but we enjoy him alive.”

Tom and Tiffany, 4-year-old turkeys, have been a spectacle at the Fruit Barn for about three years. They were born in Madera to a family with children, so they’re friendly and used to tourists on their way to Yosemite stopping by for visits, Raggio said.

“People will say ‘That’s a big turkey,’ but he’s all feathers,” Raggio said. “Tom, all day long he walks around and struts.”

Tiffany, on the other hand, is a little more feisty. She’ll follow people around and try to steal their food when she’s not softly clucking at Tom.

Raggio said she used to keep wild turkeys at the Fruit Barn, but they flew off, so she wanted a pair of turkeys that were more docile. Then she found Tom and Tiffany.

The two birds are Royal Palms, a threatened breed of turkeys typically raised for exhibition and rarely eaten, according to the Livestock Breeds Conservancy. The males are called “toms” and that’s how the Fruit Barn male turkey got his name. The breed is actually smaller than commercial turkeys raised for meat, weighing about 10 to16 pounds. What makes them look bigger is their black-and-white decorative plumage.

Commercial turkeys typically get so fat they struggle to walk, but Royal Palms are known to fly well.

Raggio said she gets many visitors looking to show their children “real” turkeys.

“A lot of people do come just to see them,” she said. “Many people have never seen a live turkey before.”

Tom and Tiffany stay in the “barnyard” area of the Fruit Barn with a friendly goat and sheep. An orange cat prowls the property, making sure all the animals stay in line. A cow with a bell around her neck hangs out in a pen near the turkeys, along with emus and a donkey. Inside the Fruit Barn, various exotic birds coo in their cages.

Since Raggio is a registered veterinary technician, she’s always kept animals, and many people will give them to her.

“As long as their friendly, I’ll take them,” Raggio said. “Everyone gets along real well.”

The birds eat anything that comes their way: turkey pellets, dog food, bread, rotting fruit, meat or cheese.

Every spring, Tiffany lays eggs. This past spring was the first time she sat on them. After sitting for about a month, 10 yellow, fuzzy turkeys hatched. Raggio took care of most of them but let Tiffany mother four of them. When they were old enough, the baby turkeys went to new homes.

The Merced Fruit Barn will be closed Thanksgiving Day.

But Tom and Tiffany won’t be on a Thanksgiving table. They’ll stay at the Fruit Barn, puffing their feathers.

“These are some of the prettiest turkeys around,” Raggio said. “Everybody gets a big kick out of them.”

This story was originally published November 23, 2016 at 1:14 PM with the headline "Meet Tom and Tiffany, two turkeys who won’t be on the Thanksgiving table."