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12
Turkey
The turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) is well-known in
North Amenca and Europe, but in the rest of the
~1
world, especially in developing countnes, its potential
has been largely overlooked. Partly, this is because | |
chickens are so familiar and grow so well that there
seems no reason to consider any other poultry. Partly,
it is because modern turkeys have been so highly bred for intensive
production that the resulting birds are inappropriate for home produc-
tion.
Nevertheless, there is a much wider potential role for turkeys in the
future. There are types that thrive as village birds or as scavengers,
but these are little known even to turkey specialists. These primitive
types are probably the least studied of all domestic fowl; little effort
has been directed at increasing their productivity under free-ranging
conditions. However, they retain their ancestral self-reliance arid are
widely used by farmers in Mexico. That they are unrecognized
elsewhere is a serious oversight.
Native to North America, the turkey was domesticated by Indians
about 400 BC, and today's Mexican birds seem to be direct descend-
ants.~ Unlike the large-breasted, modern commercial varieties, they
mate naturally and they retain colored feathers and a narrow breast
configuration. Their persistence in Mexico after 500 years of compe-
tition with other poultry highlights their adaptability, ruggedness, and
usefulness to people.
These birds complement chicken production. They are able to thrive
under more and conditions, they tolerate heat better, they range
farther, arid they have higher quality meat. Also, the percentage of
edible meat is much greater than that from a chicken. Turkey meat is
so low in fat that in the United States, at least, it is making strong
inroads into markets that previously used chicken exclusively.
' In Spanish, these New World natives are called "criollo" turkeys to distinguish them
from improved, reintroduced types. They are also known as "guajolote" or "pipil" in
some areas.
157
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158
MICROLIVESTOCK
Turkeys are natural foragers and can be kept as scavengers. Indeed,
they thrive best where they can rove about, feeding on seeds, fresh
grass, other herbage, and insects. As long as drinking water is available
they will return to their roost in the evening.
Appreciation for the turkey could rise rapidly. Interest already has
been shown by several African nations. A French company has created
a strain of self-reliant farm turkeys and is exporting them to developing
countries.2 Researchers in Mexico are displaying increased interest in
their national resource. And as knowledge and breeding stock continue
to be developed, it is likely that village turkeys will become increasingly
popular around the world.
AREA OF POTENTIAL USE
Worldwide.
APPEARANCE AND SIZE
Modern turkey breeding has been so dominated by selection for
increased size and muscling that commercial turkeys have leg problems
and cannot mate naturally (they are inseminated artificially). These
highly bred birds are adapted for large-volume intensive production,
and must be raised with care. As noted, this chapter emphasizes the
more self-reliant, less highly selected turkeys found in Mexico and a
few other Latin American countries. They do not require artificial
insemination, and with little attention can care for themselves and
their young.
Fully grown "criollo" turkeys of Mexico are less than half the size
of some improved strains. Males weigh between 5 and 8 kg; females,
between 3 and 4 kg.3 They vary in color from white, through splashed
or mottled, to black. The skin of the neck and head is bare, rough,
warty, and blue and red in color. A soft fleshy protuberance at the
forehead (the snood) resembles a lunger. In males it swells during
courtship. The front of the neck is a pendant wattle. A bundle of long,
coarse bristles (the beard) stands out prominently from the center of
the breast.
DISTRIBUTION
The unimproved domestic turkey is essentially limited to central
Mexico and scattered locations throughout nearby Latin American
2 Information from ADETEF, 1980.
3 Information from M. Cuca.
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TURKEY
159
countries. Some village birds are also kept in India, Egypt, and other
areas, but these are descended from semi-improved strains exported
from North America and Europe in earlier times. Generally speaking,
few turkeys are found in tropical countries outside Latin America.
STATUS
Domesticated turkeys are not endangered; there are estimated to be
about 124 million in the world. However, the wild Mexican varieties,
ancestors to the first domesticated turkeys sent to Europe, may now
be endangered since their distribution in southwestern Mexico has
been greatly reduced. Certainly some primitive domestic strains in
the uplands of central Mexico are also being depleted. A separate
type, independently domesticated by the Pueblo Indians of the south-
western United States, seems to have disappeared entirely.
HABITAT AND ENVIRONMENT
Turkeys can be reared virtually anywhere. Their natural habitat is
open forest and wooded areas of the North American continent, but
c,29-
~ _~A~.~
. turkey
The original distribution of the turkey and the ocellated turkey.
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160
MICROLIVESTOCK
in Mexico they are raised from sea level to over 2,000 m altitude, from
rainforest to desert, and from near-temperate climates to the tropics.
BIOLOGY
The range of diet is broad. Turkeys eat greens, fruits, seeds' nuts,
grasses, berries, roots, insects (locusts, cicadas, crickets, and grass-
hoppers, for example), worms, slugs, and snails.
Reproduction is generally seasonal and is stimulated by increasing
daylength. (A minimum daylength of 12 hours is required.) The birds
can reach sexual maturity at six months of age and may start breeding
at this time. Ten days after first mating, the hen searches out a nest
and commences laying. Industrial birds in temperate climates lay, on
average, 90 eggs a year. The nondescript type of turkey in the tropics
seldom lays more than 20 small eggs (weighing about 60 am) before
going broody.
BEHAVIOR
Domestic turkeys walk rather than fly, and find almost all their food
on the ground. They can, however, fly short distances to avoid
predators.
The commercial birds have lost many abilities for survival in the
wild; they can no longer exist without human care. However, village
types can do well with little management.
Turkeys prefer to make their own nests but can be induced to lay
in a convenient spot if provided with nest boxes.
USES
These birds are raised almost exclusively for meat. In many countries,
they are a treat for holidays, birthdays, and weddings. In their native
range of Mexico and Central America, the "unimproved" birds are
usually produced as a cash crop for market. They receive little care
or feed, and thus they are almost all profit providing a significant
income supplement to many rural homes.
Opposite: Criollo turkeys being raised in a backyard on the outskirts of Mexico City.
(G. Hettel)
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162
HUSBANDRY
MICROLIVESTOCK
The principles of turkey management (nutrition, housing, rearing,
and prevention of disease, for example) are basically the same as those
for other poultry.
In Mexico, turkeys are usually kept under free-ranging conditions
around houses and villages. Some shelter and kitchen scraps are
occasionally provided. A number of them, however, are confined in
backyards as protection from marauders and for shelter against rain
and wind.
One male can service up to 12 females. Roomy nests are needed.
(As a rule, turkeys require three times the space occupied by chickens.)
Most range turkeys are corralled when they begin to lay, so as to
protect them from predators. Eggs may be gathered to prevent
broodiness and thereby increase production. The eggs may be kept
for several days (cool, but not refrigerated) if turned daily, and then
may be placed under a chicken hen. (A setting chicken can be used
this way to hatch up to nine eggs at a time.) Hatching takes 28 days.
As in other birds, newly hatched turkeys (poults) must be kept warm
during the first weeks of life. Until they begin foraging and have full
access to pasture they are usually fed broken grain or fine mash, as
well as finely chopped, tender green feed.
''All II`ICOMPARABLY FIRER BIRD''
The turkey was domesticated in Mexico some time before
the Conquest. It is the one and only important domestic animal
of IYorthArnerican origin. When the Spanish arrived, they found
barnyard turkeys in the possession of Indians in all parts of
Mexico and even in Central America. However, the Aztecs and
the Tarascans, originating in west-central Mexico, seemed to
have achieved the highest development of turkey culture, and
it is probable that turkeys were domesticated in the western
highlands, perhaps in Michoacan. Wild turkeys of that region
are morphologically very similar to the primitive domestic
bronze type. Both theAztecs and Tarascans keptgreat numbers
of the birds, including even white ones. They paid royal tribute
to their respective kings in turkeys, according to the Relacion
de Michoacan. The Tarascan king fed turkeys to the hawks
and eagles in his zoo. The economy of some highland tribes
was based on the cultivation of com and the raising of turkeys.
A. Starker Leopold
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TURKEY
163
THE INDUSTRIAL TURKEY
The modern domesticated turkey is thought to be descended
from two differing wild subspecies, one found in Mexico and
CentralAmerica and the other in the United States. The southern
type is small, whereas the U.S. native is larger and has a
characteristic bronze plumage.
Me~ucan turkeys were exported to Europe soon after the
Conquest, and spread rapidly. In the 17th century, some were
returned to Forth America, where they interbred with the
eastern subspecies of wild turkey, producing a heavier bird,
which was then reexported to Europe.
These types underwent little change until this century, when
the Englishman Jesse Throssel bred them for meat quality. In
the 1920s, he brought his improved birds to Canada, where
their large size and broad breasts quickly made them foun-
dation breeding stock. Crossed with the narrow-breasted north
American types, these heavily muscled meat birds quickly
supplanted other varieties.
About the same time, the U.S. Department of Agriculture
began the scientific development of a smaller meat turkey
derived from a more diverse genetic base. By the 1950s, the
Beltsville Small Whites predominated in the home consumption
market in the United States.
Although free-ranging turkeys are simple to raise, confined turkeys
require more complex management. The birds need uncrowded, well-
ventilated conditions and should be on a wire or slatted Hoor to reduce
parasitic infections. Any feeds recommended for chicks are suitable,
but the protein content should be somewhat higher; that is, about 27
percent. They can be fed mixed grains, corn, and chopped legume
hay. It may be necessary to provide vitamin supplements and antibiotics
and take steps to prevent coccidiosis.
ADVANTAGES
The birds are efficient and generally take care of themselves. They
tolerate dry, hot, or cold climates and forage farther than chickens.
They are large, fast growing, highly marketable, low in fat, and tasty.
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164
MICROLIVESTOCK
TI1E TURKEY'S TROPICAL COUSIN
_ ~
Fit ~
~ . o
_
__ i
In_
I_ ,..
__,
The ocellated turkey ~riocharis ocellata) occurs in Yucatan,
Guatemala, and Belize. It is much like the common turkey in
size, fond, and behavior; however, unlike the common turkey,
which in Mexico lives in the high mountain pine and oak forests,
the ocellated turkey inhabits bushy, semiforested lowlands.
This splendid bird lacks the kind of beard sported by the
common turkey gobbler, is generally more metallic in appear-
ance, and has brighter coppery colors. The chief character is
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TURKEY
165
a neck and head that are bare, blue, and profusely covered
with coral-colored pimples. It also has a yellow-tipped protu-
berance growing on the crown between the eyes.
This species is worthy of investigation by poultry researchers
because it might prove to be domesticable. It was possibly
domesticated by the Mayas, whose ruins often include appro-
pr~ately sized stone enclosures whose soil has elevated levels
of phosphorus and potassium. Even today, in the rural Peten
area of Guatemala, ocellated turkeys are sometimes kept
around houses as scavengers.
LIMITATIONS
Young birds are readily affected by temperature changes and must
be protected from the sun as well as from sudden chills, such as may
occur at night. They are particularly susceptible to dampness, especially
if associated with cold. One peculiarity is the turkey's aversion to any
change in feeding routine or the nature of the food.
Young turkeys are susceptible to parasitic infestation as well as to
the same type of bacterial and virus diseases as chickens (for example,
fowlpox and coccidiosis). Blackhead, a devastating disease of young
turkeys, is carried by a common parasitic nematode, and can be
contracted from chickens. Medicines are available to prevent or treat
most disease and pest problems.
RESEARCH AND CONSERVATION NEEDS
Turkey development is almost nonexistent in the Third World (and
much of the rest of the world, too). Although commercial turkeys are
highly developed in some countries, little or no research has been
conducted on the criollo turkey. Research on physiology, disease, and
husbandry of the criollo turkey should be given high priority.
The need for conservation of genetic variability is perhaps more
critical in this species than in almost any other domesticated animal.
The unimproved types in Mexico should be collected and assessed,
and a program to conserve the stocks should be initiated. An analysis
should also be made of the traditional management and performance
of these birds. In addition, the four or five recognized turkey subspecies
should be evaluated for their potential as seed stock for Third World
countries.
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Representative terms from entire chapter:
ocellated turkey
