Turkeys have never been raised in Turkey. In fact. the turkey wasn’t known in Europe until it was discovered by early colonists in North America. But in a way, the turkey was named after the nation of Turkey! Here’s how it happened:
When European settlers first saw the turkey in America, they thought it looked like another bird, one they were familiar with, the guinea fowl, or Turkey-cock, often brought to England from Turkey. Its name was later shortened to “turkey.”
A turkey can eat 80 pounds of food before it has grown to 15 pounds!
