Turkeys Participating in No Shave November

I know we haven't shared much about our turkeys, but I wanted to write a quick post about them since they will be getting ready for Thanksgiving tomorrow. We will be sharing more about that later.

I went out last night to shut the door on the barn and noticed something a little strange on one of the turkey's chest. It looked like a bushy weed got stuck in its feathers. I wondered if any others had the same thing and so I checked them out. One of the other Toms did. This is what it looked like.

(Sorry the pics aren't the best. I took them this morning when I let them out and I didn't want to fuss about trying to get good lighting for a picture of the turkeys at 6:30 in the morning)

When I got back inside I consulted my expert that knows everything (Google) and found out that it is a "beard". I had no idea that turkeys grew beards! Granted I did not grow up in a hunting family or on a farm, so I was never expose to a live turkey. I guess that they decided to not shave them this month for No Shave November.

Some other things that you might not know about turkeys.

• Turkeys can fly - The domesticated turkey that most people eat for Thanksgiving can't because it is bred to be so big, but wild or heritage breeds can.
• The "Butterball" turkeys that you find at the store have been bred so that their breast meat is much larger. As a result of this they can't mate on their own and have to be artificially inseminated. Not the way nature intended it to be which is why we chose a heritage breed.
• Ben Franklin has been quoted as saying that the turkey should be the national bird. This is not entirely true. He wasn't happy with the Bald Eagle because he said that it wasn't a respectable bird and the turkey was more respectable. smithsonianmag.com has more information on this.
• Supposedly their gobble can be heard a mile away. I am not sure ours are that loud, but it is loud. And fun to talk back to them when they are doing it. Our neighbor kids would get them going from their yard.
• When you say a kid is being a turkey because they are getting into trouble, you are spot on. Turkeys are curious creatures (a lot like kids) and they like to jump over fences, jump up on anything they can and peck at anything new. Ask Nicole about this.
• Turkeys aren't dumb. I want to preface this by saying that I don't really think any animal is dumb. Animals are all smart in their own ways. After watching a completely domesticated hen hatch a chick and raise it without ever seeing it or being taught how to do it, I realize that animal have much better instincts than we do in some ways. Back to the turkey. The typical Thanksgiving turkey might be dumb because humans have bred any intelligence out of them. But heritage breeds and wild turkeys are intelligent. 

Stay tuned for how we turned these beautiful birds into a delicious Thanksgiving dinner.