More Than $45 Million Turkeys to Celebrate Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is fast approaching and every stores and points of sales are all warming up for their yearly discounted promotional sales. Every household are not left out in the celebration too as most groceries stores have as of last week been flooded with stocks of TURKEYS which is the symbol of Thanksgiving celebration. According to recent statistics from the department of Agriculture, more than 45 Million Turkeys are slaughtered and cooked during each Thanksgiving. speculations are rife that this years figure will be more than that. For more facts about Turkey how the Turkey gets its name, get details of the stories below in the article. [nextpagelink][/nextpagelink] How the Turkey Got Its Name: There are a number of explanations for the origin of the name of Thanksgiving's favorite dinner guest. Some believe Christopher Columbus thought that the land he discovered was connected to India, and believed the bird he discovered (the turkey) was a type of peacock. He therefore called it 'tuka,' which is 'peacock' in Tamil, an Indian language. Though the turkey is actually a type of pheasant, one can't blame the explorer for trying. The Native American name for turkey is 'firkee'; some say this is how turkeys got their name. Simple facts, however, sometimes produce the best answers—when a turkey is scared, it makes a "turk, turk, turk" noise. For more facts, check the next page. [nextpagelink][/nextpagelink] Facts About Turkey : At one time, the turkey and the bald eagle were each considered as the national symbol of America. Benjamin Franklin was one of those who argued passionately on behalf of the turkey. Franklin felt the turkey, although "vain and silly", was a better choice than the bald eagle, whom he felt was "a coward". According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, more than 45 million turkeys are cooked and eaten in the U.S. at Thanksgiving—that's one sixth of all turkeys sold in the U.S. each year. American per capita consumption of turkeys has soared from 8.3 pounds in 1975 to 18.5 pounds in 1997 and has remained stable at about 16 pounds since 2011. In 2013, 240 million turkeys were raised. Compare this with the record low of 17.1 million birds in 1930, and the record high of 302.7 million in 1996. Turkeys are fed a diet of mainly corn and soybean meal along with a supplement of vitamins and minerals. They grow to full maturity in about 4 to 5 months, depending on the desired market weight. More facts about turkey next page: [nextpagelink][/nextpagelink] Turkeys are the only breed of poultry native to the Western Hemisphere. Turkeys have great hearing, but no external ears. They can also see in color, and have excellent visual acuity and a wide field of vision (about 270 degrees), which makes sneaking up on them difficult. However, turkeys have a poor sense of smell (what's cooking?), but an excellent sense of taste. Domesticated turkeys cannot fly. Wild turkeys, however, can fly for short distances at speeds up to 55 miles per hour. They can also reach speeds of 25 miles per hour on the ground. Turkeys sometimes spend the night in trees. Turkeys can have heart attacks: turkeys in fields near the Air Force test areas over which the sound barrier was broken were known to drop dead from the shock of passing jets Read more: Check Here Photo Source : Kim Seng