Turkey Facts Known By Few
When you sit down to enjoy your holiday turkey, there is a good chance that the bird came from North Carolina. With about 15% of the total U.S. production, North Carolina ranks second nationally in the number of turkeys raised. The primary turkey-producing counties in North Carolina, including Sampson, Duplin, Wayne, Union, Onslow, Lenoir, Greene, Bladen, Pender and Stanly counties.
Here are some random turkey facts you can use to impress your family with while you are sitting around trying to digest your Thanksgiving feast :
- 50% of U.S. consumers eat turkey at least once per week.
- The male turkey is called a tom.
- The female turkey is called a hen.
- Baby turkeys are called poults and are tan and brown.
- The average American eats over 16 pounds of turkey.
- Israelis eat the most turkeys.....28 pounds per person.
- For their first meal on the moon, astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin ate roasted turkey in foil packets.
- Contrary to popular myth, eating turkey does not cause you to feel sleepy after Thanksgiving dinner. Carbohydrates in your Thanksgiving dinner are the likely cause of your sleepiness.
- Turkey is the # 4 protein choice for American consumers behind chicken, beef and pork.
- A 15 pound turkey usually has about 70 percent white meat and 30 percent dark meat.
- Turkey is low in fat and high in protein.
- White meat has fewer calories and less fat than dark meat.
- Turkey eggs are tan with brown specks. They are larger than chicken eggs.
- The fleshy growth under a turkey's throat is called a wattle.
- Turkey skins are tanned and used to make cowboy boots and belts.
- Turkeys will have about 3,500 feathers at maturity.
- Turkeys have been bred to have white feathers. White feathers have no spots under the skin when plucked.
- Since 1947, the National Turkey Federation has presented a live turkey and two dressed turkeys to the President. The President does not eat the live turkey. He pardons it and allows it to live out its days on a farm.
- June is National Turkey Lover's Month.
- Wild turkeys sleep in trees. They especially like oak trees.
- Wild turkeys were almost wiped out in the early 1900's. Today there are wild turkeys in every state except Alaska.
- Turkey eggs hatch in 28 days.
- A domesticated male turkey can reach a weight of 30 pounds within 18 weeks after hatching.
- Turkeys are related to pheasants.
- Commercially raised turkeys cannot fly.
- Wild turkeys can fly for short distances up to 55 miles per hour.
- Wild turkeys can run 20 miles per hour.
- Turkeys don't really have ears like ours, but they have very good hearing.
- Turkeys can see in color.
- Turkeys can see movement almost a hundred yards away.
- Turkey feathers were used by Native Americans to stabilize arrows.
- A large group of turkeys is called a flock.
- The ballroom dance the "turkey trot" was named for the short, jerky steps that turkeys take.
- A 16 week old turkey is called a fryer. A five to seven month old turkey is called a young roaster and a yearling is a year old. Any turkey 15 months or older is called mature.
- Male turkeys gobble. Hens do not. Instead, they make a clicking noise.
- Gobbling turkeys can be heard a mile away on a quiet day.
- It takes 75-80 pounds of feed to raise a 30 pound tom turkey.
- Ben Franklin, in a letter to his daughter, proposed the turkey as the official United States bird.
- Forty-five million turkeys are eaten each Thanksgiving.
- Twenty-two million turkeys are eaten each Christmas.
- Nineteen million turkeys are eaten each Easter.
- Minnesota, North Carolina, Arkansas, Virginia, Missouri and California are the leading producers of turkey.
