Benton County Turkeys

It's turkey time.  In the 1940s, Benton County had a large turkey industry with at least 26 farms with flocks totaling over one million, according to a newspaper article of 1944. 

 

These turkeys were part of the flock on the Wiese farm which was located in what is now the Timberhill area of town. 

View looking southwest from Wiese farm, 1929

 
Although the Wiese farm raised a variety of livestock and crops, Fred Wiese took an active part in promoting the turkey industry and the latest research on it as done by Oregon State College (OSU).

The photo shows a turkey bell from the Benton County Historical Museum's collection. The Wieses used the bell to locate the flock to drive them to a different location on the farm at a time when the turkeys were allowed to roam free.  In 1932, researchers at OSC found that free range turkeys did not do as well as confined turkeys, so the Wises began to pen their flock and the bell was no longer needed.

OSC continued its research on turkeys, building an experimental brooder house and incubator on property along Harrison, across from their dairy farm in 1947.  Unfortunately, this facility caught fire in 1955 and burned to the ground because the Corvallis fire department was unable to respond because the property lay just outside city limits. The university disbanded the turkey research program in the mid 1990s.

Enjoy your turkey and have a safe Thanksgiving!

 By Martha Fraundorf, Volunteer for Benton County Historical Society, Philomath, Oregon