10 Fun Facts About Turkeys

What do you really know about turkey, other than it goes well with cranberry sauce?

In most families, the so-called “turkey expert” is the person who gets to carve the roasted bird, and the rest of us are only concerned with choosing dark or white meat. But here are a few tidbits about turkeys that could make you the conversation expert between forkfuls.

Turkey Fun Facts

1. For instance, did you know that you can tell the mental state of a turkey by the color of its head and neck? When a turkey gets mad, excited, or defensive, its head and neck turn white. The more extreme the emotion, the whiter the color.
2. Turkeys can see in color but have poor night vision. They can see movement almost a hundred yards away and have a wide field of vision, which makes sneaking up on them difficult. Good luck trying to catch a wild turkey. They can run at speeds of up to 25 miles per hour and fly for short distances at up to 55 miles per hour. Wild turkeys spend the night in trees and are particularly fond of oak trees.
3. Hens are typically sold whole, while toms are further processed into cutlets and deli meats.
4. Even if you can’t see them, you can probably hear them. The wild turkey can make at least 30 different calls. In the spring, the adult male makes a call known as a gobble to attract females. Humans can hear gobbles from a mile away. Hens don’t gobble; they make a clicking noise.
5. Around 46 million turkeys are consumed every Thanksgiving.
6. If Benjamin Franklin had his way, you’d be eating our national bird. The Smithsonian says Franklin wrote a letter to his daughter, praising the turkey as a much more respectable bird than the bald eagle. He wrote, “For the Truth the Turkey is in Comparison a much more respectable Bird, and withal a true original Native of America . . . He is besides, though a little vain & silly, a Bird of Courage, and would not hesitate to attack a Grenadier of the British Guards who should presume to invade his farmyard with a red Coat on.”
7. Mature turkeys have 3,500 feathers.
8. Toms typically take 18 weeks to reach maturity and weigh 38 pounds.
9. On average, it takes 75-80 pounds of feed to raise a 38-pound tom turkey.
10. Minnesota is ranked number one in U.S. turkey production, raising more than 40 million turkeys each year.

EDITOR’S TAKE:

Because Thanksgiving is typically associated with turkey as the main dish, we thought it would be fun to share a few tidbits with you. Sometimes these creatures are misaligned by comparisons with vultures or other strange birds. Nothing could be further from the truth. They are typically very docile and, most of all, an excellent source of nutrition, especially protein with lower fat content. Sure, you might feel a bit sleepy after Thanksgiving dinner and consuming tryptophan. Contrary to popular belief, the body can’t produce tryptophan, so you must get it from your diet. Turkey is a source of tryptophan, but so is cheese, chicken, fish, milk, peanuts, egg whites and soybeans. Tryptophan can also be found in sunflower, pumpkin and sesame seeds. However, experts say the amount of food consumed is more likely to give you that desire to nap after dinner versus just the turkey.

All that said – have a pleasant, safe and enjoyable Thanksgiving holiday with family and friends. And most of all, please give thanks for all your blessings, but don’t forget to thank those farmers/ranchers who help put that food on your table every day of the year!