WHAT IS A “GAME-FARM” OR “PEN-RAISED” WILD TURKEY?
Game breeders sometimes advertise “wild turkeys” among the stock that they sell for food, pets, or release to the wild. In some instances, these birds may merely be bronze domestic turkeys. At other times, however, these so-called “wild” turkeys are pen-raised birds of (long-ago) wild origin. Pen-raised (sometimes called “game-farm”) turkeys were developed about the turn of the 20th century, when game breeding was very popular and considered a method of restoring depleted wild populations. These turkeys derived from 3 sources: (1) removing and hatching eggs from wild nests, (2) live-trapping and keeping wild birds, and (3) cross-breeding domestic turkeys with wild turkey gobblers. The resulting birds look very much like “wild” birds, sometimes almost identically so, but they usually behave very differently. Since many of the turkey’s behaviors are learned ones that are passed from the hen to her poults, these behaviors are lost in the confines of captivity.
Game breeders sometimes advertise “wild turkeys” among the stock that they sell for food, pets, or release to the wild. In some instances, these birds may merely be bronze domestic turkeys. At other times, however, these so-called “wild” turkeys are pen-raised birds of (long-ago) wild origin. Pen-raised (sometimes called “game-farm”) turkeys were developed about the turn of the 20th century, when game breeding was very popular and considered a method of restoring depleted wild populations. These turkeys derived from 3 sources: (1) removing and hatching eggs from wild nests, (2) live-trapping and keeping wild birds, and (3) cross-breeding domestic turkeys with wild turkey gobblers. The resulting birds look very much like “wild” birds, sometimes almost identically so, but they usually behave very differently. Since many of the turkey’s behaviors are learned ones that are passed from the hen to her poults, these behaviors are lost in the confines of captivity. Thus, pen-raised turkeys oft
