Innisfil turkey takes top honour at Royal Winter Fair

Greg Bray and Denzel the turkey can be seen in Innisfil, Ont. on Monday, Nov.23, 2015. (Brandon Rowe/ CTV Barrie)

An Innisfil turkey took home top prize from the Royal Agriculture Winter Fair earlier this month.

Greg Bray is very protective of Denzel the turkey, holding a special place in the heart of his family.

“I will be honest, myself and my daughters, we treat him more like a dog than any kind of poultry, and I think that helps him.

Bray raises heritage breed birds on his 52 acre property in Innisfil. He has everything from chickens and geese to ducks and turkeys. However, Denzel stands out and he recently proved it at the Royal Winter Fair in Toronto.

“Denzel has always been timid. When we got him down to the Royal, Denzel fanned up, and was in a perfect display, and he never acts like that.”

Denzel was judged against other bourbon red turkeys at the fair on things like size and colour of feathers and was crowned grand champion turkey.

“People have been in contact with us. Our whole goal is to get the rare heritage breed out there and preserve their genetics, but at the end of the day, the guy who provided the genetics.”

On Sunday, Denzel has been asked to be part of the Alcona Santa Claus Parade.

“We owe him something in return. So Denzel will be here forever, and someday we'll have a nice marker for Denzel.”