Our favourite seasonal dish
Turkey is the traditional roast of Christmas Day and this meal will soon be in front of us. We will eat about 11 million Turkeys over the holiday period along with stuffing, roast potatoes, sausages, bacon, vegetables and bread or cranberry sauce. MMMMM yummy.
This dish only became popular in Britain during the 1950s when Turkeys were bred more often on 
farms. This process is sometimes called factory farming. This is where large numbers of birds are kept under cover with limited space to move. They are brought up in windowless houses with modern systems for heating, air and lighting. They are fed pellets that are high in protein and help them to grow quickly. The house may have as many as 25,000 birds and there may be several houses like this on one turkey farm.
The young chicks are known as poults. When they are between 12 and 36 weeks old they are killed and packed as oven ready turkeys. They will usually have a larger breast size as we prefer to eat the breast meat. The longer they are kept the bigger the size. Turkeys are grown to a wide range of sizes and weights to meet the needs of small and large families.
There are two other methods of bringing up turkeys. They are called "pole barn housing" and "free range". The majority of turkeys grown on smaller farms for the Christmas market are done so in pole barns. When the birds are six weeks old they are placed in the pole barns and these have natural light and electric lights in winter. There is less control over temperature and air but there are fewer turkeys in any specific area. This means the birds are more likely to peck (bite) each other and this is controlled by trimming the beak. Some farmers provide vegetable material or other objects for the turkeys to play with. Free range turkeys are allowed to roam more freely, grow older and do not eat food so high in protein. This means they take longer to grow bigger.
There are three types of turkey. There is the White Turkey that has larger breasts, short stubby legs and a cleaner looking skin. Then there is the Norfolk Black which has more flavour and a smaller breast than the White Turkey. Lastly is the Bronze Turkey, named because of the colour of its feathers that are a green-bronze. They are most likely to be free range and have more flavour.
Some other facts about turkeys:
- A male turkey is called a stag and a female turkey is called a hen.
- Wild turkeys can fly up to speeds of 55 miles per hours but domesticated birds can't fly.
- The turkey was brought over from Mexico in the 16th century.
- Roast turkey was the first food eaten on the moon when Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed there.
- The fleshy growth on a turkey's neck is known as a wattle. A male turkey has a fleshy bit that hangs down from the nose and this is called a snood.
You may have heard about a disease called Avian Flu that is affecting birds and turkeys. Many birds have had to be killed in England to stop it spreading from one group of birds to another. The diseases can be brought into this country from other parts of the world when the birds fly from one country to another. Scientists say that the risk to humans is almost nil especially when the meat is properly cooked. If you do find a dead bird where there has been an outbreak of Avian Flu you should tell an adult and ask them to report it to Defra. This is the Government department that deals with farming issues.
And finally as its Christmas how about some turkey jokes straight out of a box of crackers:
- Why do turkeys go gobble - gobble? Because they don't have good table manners.
- Why did the turkey cross the road? Because the chicken had a day off.
- Why was the turkey sent to see the headteacher? Because it used fowl language.
- What do you get when you cross an octopus with a turkey? Lots of legs for everyone to eat on Christmas day.
- What did the little turkey say to the big turkey? Peck on someone your own size.
That is probably enough for now!!
Date
3/12/2007
