Where is Talus Wind Ranch located?
The ranch is in a spectacularly scenic region in north-central New Mexico known as the Galisteo Basin, which is perfectly framed by the Ortiz Mountains to the southwest, the Cerrillos Hills to the west, the Sangre de Cristo Mountains to the northeast, and the Jemez Mountains to the northwest. The ranch is 6 miles south of Galisteo, New Mexico and a 30 mile drive from Santa Fe.

What does the word "talus" mean?
A rock formation such as a slope consisting of rocks and boulders which have cleaved off of an adjacent cliff.

What is your mission?
To humanely raise and market products to fine restaurants and the general public. Most feed lots raise sheep with the idea that bigger is better, quantity before quality.  We want to bring a superior meat to our customers.

What animals do you raise?
Rio Grande Wild and Standard Bronze Turkeys, sheep such as Navajo-Churro, Finnsheep, Rambouillet, Southdown and Miniature Southdown sheep.

How do you deal with the emotional challenge?
They have one bad day and a very good life.

Where can I buy your heritage meats?
Click here for our online ordering.

What are some differences between how commercial turkeys and heritage turkeys are raised?
After years of engineering, the Broadbreasted breed has morphed into a bird that cannot run, fly or mate. They are artificially inseminated, because their huge chests keep them too far away to mate. The meat of the Broadbreasted White is often dry because they are fed pelleted feed, nothing natural, and they are harvested young, bred to be ready for slaughter when they are 4 and 5 months, when the meat just isn't developed yet. When the life of the bird is short, it never matures and puts on the layer of fat, which is why dry commercial birds have to be injected with liquid. By contrast, heritage turkeys roam free, can fly, are fed naturally, and not harvested until 7 or 8 months, or even later.

What do we need to know to cook a heritage turkey?
Click here for helpful hints on cooking heritage turkeys.