I’m not a fan of most of the Thanksgiving meal dishes, but I gobble up turkey white meat. Like a lot of people, I love it as leftovers. I’m not alone in this enjoyment since 44 million turkeys are consumed at Thanksgiving.
Beyond being tasty, turkeys are fascinating, both as animals and as consumables (a very popular one.) I hope you will share some of these fun facts from the University of Illinois Extension as you enjoy your light or dark meat this Thursday.
Gobble up these turkey facts
- Hens are usually sold as whole birds, while toms are processed into various turkey products
- The average weight of a Thanksgiving turkey is fifteen pounds
- A fifteen-pound turkey has about 70% white meat and 30% dark meat
- Turkeys lived almost ten million years ago
- Baby turkeys are called poults and are tan and brown
- Male turkeys gobble. Female turkeys make a clicking noise
- Turkeys can see in color but do not see well at night
- Wild turkeys sleep in trees
- June is National Turkey Lover’s Month
- Turkey has more protein than chicken
- Turkeys have 3,500 feathers when fully grown
- Turkey eggs hatch in 28 days
- Turkeys are dinosaurs