Turkey

A turkey is either of two species of large birds in the genus Meleagris. Turkeys are birds classed in the gamebird order with fan-shaped tails and wattled necks. As with many galliform species, the female is smaller than the male, and much less colourful. With their wingspans of 1.5-1.8 metres, the turkeys are by far the largest birds in the open forests in which they live, and are rarely mistaken for any other species. The turkey is reared throughout temperate parts of the World, and is a popular form of poultry, partially because industrialised farming has made it very cheap for the amount of meat it produces. The female domesticated turkey is referred to as a hen and the chick as a poult. In the United States, the male is referred to as a tom, whilst in Europe, the male is a stag.

The modern domesticated turkey was developed from the Wild Turkey. The Ocellated Turkey was probably also domesticated by the Mayans. It has been speculated that this species is more tractable than its northern counterpart, and was the source of the present domesticated stock, but there is no morphological evidence to support this theory. In particular, the chest tuft of domestic turkeys is a clear indicator of descent from the Wild Turkey, as the Ocellated Turkey does not have this tuft. The great majority of domesticated turkeys have white feathers, although brown or bronze-feathered varieties are also raised.

When Europeans first encountered these species in the Americas, they incorrectly identified them with the African Helmeted Guineafowl (Numida meleagris), also known as the turkey-cock from its importation to Europe through Turkey, and the name of that country stuck as also the name of the American bird. The confusion is also reflected in the scientific name: meleagris is Greek for guinea-fowl.

Turkeys were brought back to Europe shortly after their discovery in the New World. For this reason, many distinct turkey breeds were developed in Europe (e.g. Spanish Black, Royal Palm). Turkey was one of the many game species hunted by early American colonists and is traditionally (though not in actuality) thought to have been served at the first Thanksgiving. Turkeys have been a staple on farms since their discovery in colonial times. In the midwestern United States in the mid to late 1800s, domestic turkeys were actually herded across the range in a manner similar to herding cattle. In the early 20th century, many advances were made in the breeding of turkeys resulting in varieties such as the Beltsville Small White.

Prior to World War II, turkey was something of a luxury in Britain, with goose or beef a more common Christmas dinner. Intensive farming of turkeys from the late 1940s, however, dramatically cut the price and it became far and away the most common Christmas dinner meat. With the availability of refrigeration, whole turkeys could be shipped frozen to distant markets. Later advances in control of disease increased production even more. Advances in shipping, changing consumer preferences and the proliferation of commercial poultry plants for butchering animals has made fresh turkey available to the consumer.

Modern animal husbandry has resulted in significant differences between wild turkeys and commercial farm animals. Broad-breasted varieties are prized for their white meat, fast growth, and excellent feed-conversion ratios. Broad-breasted varieties typically cannot breed naturally and must be artificially inseminated. Modern commercial varieties have also lost much of their natural ability to forage for food and to escape predators. For this reason, many non-commercial hobbyists as well as organic farmers grow "heritage" breeds such as the Royal Palm or Naragansett -- varieties traditionally grown on farms prior to the advent of large-scale agriculture. Though unable to breed naturally, some commercial turkey hens are often able to produce young from unfertilized eggs in a process called parthenogenesis.

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