Livestock Facts: Poultry
This week's “animal” is a bit of a wide range. Poultry is not just one specific species but the range of birds used or kept as livestock. A few examples are ducks, geese, turkey, chicken, roosters, etc. Let's dive deeper into the first three listed animals.
First up are ducks.Specific, domesticated breeds such as mallards and muscovy ducks as they’re easier to breed and keep as pets. Ducks are kept as livestock as they produce eggs that farmers/ country folk tend to eat. People also hunt these birds and eat the meat as a substitute for chicken, beef, pork, or other protein means. Duck aren’t the only ones used for food, in fact all of the animals we will be talking about are used as food/protein products.
The second animal is the typical goose. Now, Kansans are familiar with the Canadian goose but these geese cannot be kept as a pet. According to the University of Kentucky Department of Animal and Food Sciences, the goose is “raised commercially for meat, feathers, down and foie gras”. The website describes the foie gras as a fatty duck or goose liver delicacy.
Our final animal is the classic turkey. Again used for food during Thanksgiving or Christmas time as the main course but also a wonderful lunch meat for a simple everyday sandwich (in my opinion). Website World Animal Protection says that 46 million turkeys are slaughtered each year for Thanksgiving. This website also claims that Abe. Lincoln’s son declared that the bird had/has a right to live just like any other animal but the Presidential pardon did not come in to play until 1989 with George H.W. Bush’s administration. And lastly, something that I found quite interesting is that turkeys' heads change color depending on their emotions.
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