THE TURKEY An anthology of historical facts and remarkable tales about turkeys

Transcription

1 THE TURKEY An anthology of historical facts and remarkable tales about turkeys By: Theo Philipsen PART 4 In this final part of the series we have some more remarkable tales about the origin of the turkey: According to tradition, the Deluge took place about 7500 years ago. If this painting from 1663 really depicts the disembarkation of the Ark, then before the flood began, old Noah must have travelled quickly to America to collect some turkeys for his animal collection in the Ark. Above: The Disembarkation. Adam Isaackz, 1663 I seriously wonder how he managed to do that in those days.

2 If he got them locally in the Middle East, then my whole story doesn t add up! But things get even more curious. Apparently Eve and Adam kept turkeys in the earthly Paradise. I have no idea how long ago this was, but the original humans are earmarked as the very first turkey keepers (from a biblical viewpoint anyway) according to Belgian artist, Jan Brueghel. Left: The Earthly Paradise Jan Brueghel, It is said that the Earthly Paradise was situated somewhere in the Middle East, so if the artist is to be believed, my allegations and assertions about the origin of the turkey must be fiction! For my own peace of mind, I ll assume that neither artist was familiar with the origin of turkeys and that both painted freely with artistic licence. Though I won t dare to claim that everything I have said about the origins of turkeys is true beyond any doubt, I will say that my anthology is based on the findings of many historians and other viewpoints, so I may presume that the truth will be somewhat similar. To end with I give you several particularities on the species, varieties and breeding of turkeys. Originally there were 3 species of turkeys: 1. Ocellated Turkey (Agriocharis Ocellata) The Ocellated has no beard or tassel and calls with a rather high-pitched but melodious series of chops. The colours in the plumage resemble those of the peacock. The body feathers of the cock are a mixture of bronze and green iridescent colour. Their legs are shorter than those of other species and they carry long spurs. The word ocellata is derived from the Latin word oculus, which means eye and refers to the spots on the tail. Right: Ocellated turkey.

3 The Ocellated Turkey is native to Yucatan, Belize, Honduras and Guatemala. In Europe, they kept as a scavenger of left-overs and weeds. Left: Agriocharis Ocellata or Occelated turkey. Central American Indians, in spite of all their expertise with animals, were unable to domesticate Occelated turkeys and their numbers in the wild have decreased significantly due to hunting and predators. You may see them occasionally in zoos. 2. Parapavo Californicus. Over 700 skeletons of this long ago extinct species have been found in California and date back to the Pleistocene age. Like the Ocellated Turkey, this species was also beardless. They were named because of their resemblance to peacocks parapavo means like a peacock. As I mentioned previously, the word pavo means peacock (although nowadays the Spanish word pavo means turkey and pavo really means peacock) so rather confusing! This turkey is an in-between in the Occelated turkey and the third species. Right: Parapavo Californicus. 3. Meleagris Gallopavo. The Meleagris Gallopavo is the ancestor of our modern-day turkeys. It has a beard or tassel (in the old picture at the left it even has two beards) which was much longer in olden times than it is today. This turkey is described by the Swedish biologist Linnaeus, who named it Meleagris Gallopavo in 1758.

4 The paintings of the Meleagris Gallopavo and the Ocellated turkey were both painted in England about the year Seven wild varieties of the Meleagris Gallopavo are known: Meleagris Gallopavo (M.G.) 1.M.G. silvestris 2.M.G. osceola 3.M.G. merriami - Eastern wild turkey - Florida or Osceola turkey - Merriam s turkey 4.M.G. intermedia/ellioti - Rio Grande turkey 5.M.G. mexicana 6.M.G.gallopavo 7.M.G. onusta - Gould s turkey - South Mexican or Wild turkey - Moore s turkey Our modern commercial turkeys are descendants of Meleagris Gallopavo Gallopavo (6) which originated in southern Mexico and were brought to Europe by the Spanish Conquistadores. This variety is also called South Mexican turkey. Between 1600 and 1800, immigrants took the European turkeys with them on their voyages to America, where they were further crossed with the native American turkeys. As far as we know over 20 domesticated varieties were developed in this way, some of which are important, as they are part of the pedigree of our modern turkey. Right: wild turkey, stag (tom). The Bronze turkey The Bronze turkey was developed in 1830 in America, by crossing Narragansett and local wild turkeys. The Narragansett turkey itself was a hybrid from crossing American wild turkeys to (probably black) European turkeys brought to the Americas by English and European colonists in the early 19th century. In 1952 the Bronze turkey was the most common turkey in the United States and today is still very popular in Great Britain and Italy.

5 Left: The Narragansett was a hybrid from a cross between American wild turkeys and European turkeys. Below: The Bronze turkey. The White Beltsville turkey In 1934 the American Ministry of Agriculture started a breeding program to develop the Beltsville turkey. Seven existing varieties were used, including the white, bronze, black and wild turkeys. Left: White Beltsville turkey, stag (tom). The White Broad brested turkey Between 1930 and 1960, American breeders started working to create a modern broad breasted turkey. These commercial breeders crossed the Bronze and White Beltsville turkey. In those years this was done by means of mass selection, mostly chosen for weight, heads and conformation. Selection by means of nest control (with breeding pairs) was only practised in later years.

6 Between 1960 and 1980, American breeders exported their breeds to Europe. In those years there were some 30 commercial turkey breeders in Europe and America Bronze x White Beltsville = White Broad brested turkey Here below in short the descend history of our turkeys: Meleagris Gallopavo Meleagris Gallopavo Gallopavo M.G.G. x Narragansett = Bronze Bronze x Beltsville White Broad brested turkey Meleagris Gallopavo is one of the three original turkey species. From this one amongst others- the variety Meleagris Gallopavo Gallopavo evolved. Round 1830 it was crossed with the Narragansett turkey, giving the Bronze variety.

7 The Narragansett turkey was the result of a crossing between wild turkeys and turkeys that were brought to America by European immigrants. The Bronze turkey was first crossed with the White Beltsville in America in 1934 and this cross resulted in the modern-day White broad breasted Turkey. Above: The White Broad brested turkey, stag (tom). Hybridization scheme Males Females Pure lines A x A B x B C x C D x D Grandparents A x B C x D Parents AB CD Meat turkeys ABCD This is how a modern breeding scheme looks.

8 Each chick arriving at a commercial farm has the genes of four pure bred lines, each having their own specific qualities. The gene pool of the males is mostly selected for growth, feed conversion and quantity of breast meat. The female gene pool is selected for productivity traits such as the numbers of breeding eggs and the hatchability and vitality of the progeny. Above: Chicks of the White broad brested Turkey. Right: White broad brested Turkey stag. The modern turkey breeder has to breed a turkey that is attractive to propagator, breeder and fattener, and of course, the butcher. And finally, the picture below of my turkey collection concludes this anthology of historical facts and remarkable tales of the origins of turkeys. Theo Philipsen Copyright 2007 Aviculture-Europe. All rights reserved by VBC