[1]: 232 Accepted into the Standard of Perfection by the American Poultry Association in 1874, the original strain of Buff turkey was used in the development of the Bourbon Red breed, but had died out entirely by the early 20th century.
Still, the Broad Breasted White continued to edge out all other heritage turkey breeds and today the Buff is critically endangered, according to the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy.
[4] The Buff has a very light or reddish brown plumage, which is its defining characteristic.
A trait that drew interest from breeders is the fact that the lighter feathers of the breed present an easier, cleaner carcass.
However, it has not been aggressively selected for production characteristics, and is thus significantly smaller than many modern breeds.