An extract from Consider the Turkey

My new book, Consider the Turkey is released today.

You can purchase the book from my publisher, Princeton University Press, here.

Chapter 2

“A Tremendously Handsome, Outgoing, and Intelligent Turkey”

Turkeys are birds of the genus Meleagris, native to North America. About 20 million years ago, they evolved from the common ancestor they share with pheasants and grouse. Turkeys were first domesticated by Indigenous Americans about 2,200 years ago and became an important source of protein for them. The turkeys that Ameri- cans eat today, however, came to the United States by a roundabout route. The Spanish arrived in Mexico in 1519, and it wasn’t long before they took turkeys raised by Aztecs to Spain. Over the next 200 years, the practice of raising turkeys for food spread throughout Europe. At first the birds were thought to be guinea fowls, who were known as “turkeys” because they arrived in Europe via Constantinople, then ruled by Turks. Eventually, of course, people realized that the birds from Mexico were quite different from guinea fowl, but the name stuck.

Male turkeys are typically much larger and more colorful than the females. They have a courtship display in which they strut about to show off their fine feathers. During this display, their snood—a fleshy protuberance on their heads—becomes engorged with blood and extends beyond their beak. (Among wild turkeys, females have been shown to prefer males with longer snoods.)

The behavior of male turkeys entered En- glish consciousness sufficiently rapidly for Fabian, in William Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, to describe the conceited Malvolio as “a rare turkey-cock . . . how he jets [struts] under his advanced plumes!”

English colonists settling in North America in the eighteenth century brought turkeys with them. Thus the descendants of birds who had evolved and were first domesticated in Mexico came back to North America, but in varieties that had been bred in Europe.

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It is a common myth that domesticated turkeys are stupid—so stupid, it is said, that if they are outside when it rains, they will look up at the falling rain until they drown! There is no scientific basis for this belief, which is not surprising given that turkeys evolved and survived in regions where rain occurs. We know that both wild and domesticated turkeys with freedom to roam over an ample area will, like farmyard chickens, live in groups typically consisting of about 20 individuals. Within these groups, hierarchies form. Our expression “pecking order” derives from observations of these hierarchies. Initially, sorting out the hierarchy may involve some pecking from the stronger and more aggressive birds, but eventually the subordinate birds will learn to keep out of the way of those above them in the hierarchy. To do so, they must be able to recognize others in the group and know to whom they must yield, and who they can dominate. Like humans, there is a limit to how many others they can remember and recognize. As a result, and as we will see in chapter 4, fights among turkeys are more common when thousands of birds are crowded into a single shed than when turkeys are outdoors and have sufficient space to form a durable social group.

One widely used indication of cognitive ability in animals is the mirror test, in which animals of various species are accustomed to the presence of a mirror, and researchers then find ways of discovering whether the animals take their own image as a different animal, perhaps an intruder who evokes a hostile response, or instead recognize that they are seeing their own image—thus in- dicating that they possess self-awareness and see themselves as distinct individuals existing over time. This test works only on animals who have good vision and rely on sight to distinguish between individuals. Dogs, who use their sense of smell more than sight, fail the standard mirror test, but pass an olfactory version of it. But birds do use vision, and an ingenious experiment has shown that roosters pass the mirror test. Roosters warn their fellow chickens of the presence of a predator, but when they are alone they do not give a warning. In the presence of a mirror image of themselves, they do not warn, which indicates that they do not see the image as another rooster.

After reading a report of this experiment, I contacted the lead author, Sonja Hil- lemacher, seeking information about similar studies on turkeys. “There literally exists no literature on turkey cognition,” she replied, but added, “It seems reasonable that turkeys might be able to recognize themselves in a mirror when chickens can, because turkeys have also a very (if not even more) complex social behavior.”

Hillemacher did, however, refer me to videos and anecdotal information about Cornelius, a turkey living together with Esther, a pig, on a sanctuary for farmed animals in Ontario. Steve and Derek founded the sanctuary after they adopted Esther, and then other animals started arriving from people who could not care for them. Cornelius, they report, “quickly made himself right at home” by moving from the main barn into the house shared by Steve, Derek, and Esther. A blog post from the sanctuary describes him as “a tremendously handsome, outgoing, and intelligent turkey,” and “an incredibly sensitive and loving brother” to the other animals he lives with. Cornelius soon learned the locations of all the food storage containers in the home. According to Derek, “He also has amazing eyesight and can spot a banana being peeled open from across the room. He LOVES bananas and always has count on how many should be in the bowl.” Cornelius has an especially close relationship with Esther. When the weather is wet, they stay inside and cuddle up together in some blankets. When Esther had to go to the hospital, Cornelius seemed concerned, and often stood outside, waiting for Esther to return. When Esther finally did come home, there was a joyful reunion with lots of cuddles.

At the time that blog post was written, Cornelius was seven years old, and still healthy and active. As you read the later chapters of this book, try to remember Cor- nelius and keep in mind that each turkey is an individual, with their own personality as well as the potential to have a life as long and rich as Cornelius had.

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The United States is the world’s largest turkey producer and the largest exporter of turkey products. In 1970, Americans ate just over 8 pounds per person annually; by 2021, that figure had nearly doubled to more than 15 pounds. In 2023, US turkey meat production for the domestic market was estimated to be a little more than 5 billion pounds a year, with another 400 million pounds exported. Minnesota, the state with the highest production, was responsible for 37 million turkeys annually. Ironically, Mexico, where turkeys were first domesticated, is now the largest international market for US turkey producers, taking almost two-thirds of the US turkey exports.

Modern breeding has transformed turkeys. In the 1930s, the average weight of a commercially produced turkey in the United States was 15 pounds. As late as 1960, it was still under 17 pounds. But then selective breeding for size really started to have an impact, and by 2017, the average weight per bird had passed 30 pounds. The broad-breasted white became the dominant breed, accounting for as many as 99 percent of all turkeys sold. As the name implies, birds of this breed have broad breasts—a big marketing plus because most turkey eaters want a slice of the breast. Breeding turkeys to have such a large breast comes with a distinct disadvantage, though, as we are about to discover.

You can purchase the book from my publisher, Princeton University Press, here.