Thanksgiving is the favorite holiday for many folks. Unlike Christmas where you”re expected to mortgage the family home to buy expensive gifts, Thanksgiving is a time when family and friends get together and give thanks for their health, friendship and just being able to enjoy life.
Turkey will grace the tables of approximately 75 percent of homes in America. Last year 240 million turkeys were raised in the country. Minnesota led all states with 46 million and California came in at 16 million turkeys.
All the domestic turkeys originally came from wild birds that have been roaming the planet for nearly 10 million years. They are native to Mexico and the eastern United States. Turkeys were first introduced in California in 1936.
The domestic bird is vastly different from its wild cousin. The wild bird is much smaller and rarely weighs more than 25 pounds. The domestic turkey weighs 15 pounds within 16 weeks. The heaviest domestic turkey ever raised weighed an astonishing 86 pounds. In fact, the typical domestic turkey bears little resemblance to its wild forefathers. They are so huge that many can”t stand or walk without falling over. Just about all domestic turkeys are white while their wild cousins are bronze. Domestic turkeys had their genes altered so their white feathers resulted in a clean white breast when picked, which made them more attractive in the supermarkets. Whereas a wild turkey can fly at speeds up to 50 mph, most domestic turkeys can”t fly at all and many can barely walk. Wild turkeys can run as fast as 25 mph. Today there are wild turkeys in every state except Alaska.
Turkeys were imported to Europe in 1526 and they have become just as popular over there as they are in this country. William Strickland brought the first turkeys to Britain. He acquired six turkeys from American Indian traders and sold them. Turkeys were walked to the market in large flocks in England some 200 years ago. They wore booties to protect their feet. In Britain, 87 percent of the people dine on turkey during the Christmas holidays.
Here is a piece of interesting information. A turkey”s gender can be determined from its droppings. Males produce a spiral-shaped dropping and the females produce a J-shaped dropping.
It”s tradition for the President to pardon a Thanksgiving turkey. President Harry S. Truman started the practice in 1947. After a photo session for the press, the turkey retires to a selected farm to live out its days in luxury.
Whereas a wild turkey is one of the smartest and wariest creatures in the woods, the domestic birds are about as dumb as animals can be. There is an old saying that during a heavy rainstorm domestic turkeys will look up into the sky and drown themselves. While I doubt this is true I do know that as a young boy living in Minnesota there was a turkey farm near us and the owner would put up signs along the road asking motorists not to stop because the turkeys would see the car and pile up along the fence trying to look at it. In the process they would crush each other. The workers were also told to keep the barrels of feed covered at all times because if a turkey tried to get into the barrel to reach the food the other birds would jump on it and they would all be crushed. Domestic turkey chicks actually have to be taught how to eat. One method is to put colored marbles in the feed. The turkeys peck at the marbles and end up getting some grain, which they swallow, and learn how to eat.
One theory on how the bird was named a turkey dates back to English colonists, who called the birds “turkey-cocks,” which was a name formerly used for the guinea fowl of eastern countries.
When you sit down at the table Thursday and look at the plump bird on the platter, stop and think about how his ancestors were gobbling in the woods long before man walked the earth.
