Do Turkeys Lay Eggs? Curious Turkey Eggs Facts Revealed For Kids!

Chicken eggs, turkey eggs, quail eggs, and duck eggs are the most prevalent poultry farm dishes eaten by people around the world.

Birds are ovipositor Ave species known for laying eggs, whether they are flying birds or flightless birds. Bird's eggs are edible and have a hard shell covering.

Turkeys are also as well known as chickens, quails, and duck meat, along with their eggs. The turkey is a bird that belongs to the genus of Meleagris.

The turkey is a native species of North America and was first described by Carl Linnaeus in 1758. Meleagris has two major subspecies: Meleagris gallopavo and Meleagris ocellata.

One-third of the subspecies of turkey is Extinct and is named Meleagris californica. Mostly, the nest of the turkey is made on the ground, and hence, it becomes more prone to predators. Generally, the turkey is like any other bird when it lays eggs.

They look for a safe place to create their bowl-like nest on the ground and sit in that nest to lay eggs. Usually, a dense bush area is preferred by these birds so that they can hide from predators.

The wild male turkeys lure the females by showing certain gestures such as spreading their wings or tails and are polygynous by nature. They survive up to 13 years of their lives.

If you enjoy reading this article about turkey eggs, then do read some other interesting and surprising fun facts articles about whether fish are mammals and if turtles eat fish.

When do turkeys lay eggs?

Turkey eggs are laid between the months of March and April. The number of turkey eggs takes a rise in the month of May.

The turkey bird lays eggs mostly in the month of May because the incubation period of the turkey hen is 28 days. Turkey eggs are slightly bigger than chicken eggs. Now, you must be thinking or wondering that if turkey eggs are slightly bigger, is a turkey egg slightly thicker than a chicken egg?

Yes, the turkey egg is no doubt bigger and the turkey eggshell is thicker than a chicken egg. Some of the turkey hens are asexual and are known to reproduce on their own through the process called parthenogenesis.

Domestic turkeys are very different from wild turkeys in every aspect, the major one being their taste. In the wild, the turkey lays 10-12 eggs in a nest and this clutch size might vary from one another.

How often do turkeys lay eggs?

The turkey hens lay around two to three eggs a week and, at maximum, can lay up to 100 eggs in a year.

The egg production of turkey eggs is very much different from a chicken egg. The turkey hen lays around two to three eggs a week, while the chicken hen lays eggs every day. From evident resources, it is found that the turkey eggs can be received by the farm owner every third day if you constantly handpick their eggs.

Although turkey eggs can be laid asexually with the help of incubators, in the wild the male turkey mates with the female in order to reproduce. The turkeys start laying eggs as early as the first month of the spring season and can be as late as the summer season.

Annually, the number of eggs laid can be a maximum of up to 100. The turkey eggshell is thicker than the chicken eggshell.

Why do we not eat turkey eggs?

The simplest answer to the question above would be that turkey eggs are more expensive than chicken eggs. So, it is less frequent for people to eat turkey eggs.

Although the taste of eating an egg of a turkey as well as a chicken egg is the same, the price, along with the size and time consumed differs. If you visit the grocery store, you might have wondered why the turkey eggs are so expensive.

They are expensive because, annually, around 100 eggs are laid by the turkeys. The turkeys' egg is even bigger and more nutritious compared to the chickens' egg.

A chicken's egg has fewer calories and fat due to its size compared to a turkey's egg. So, many people avoid eating turkey bird eggs.

If you wish to eat turkey eggs, then you can go for it. The taste of this bird is similar to the eggs of chickens. The time taken by turkeys to become mature and fertile is very long, and thus, people avoid doing this hard work.

Why should you not eat turkey?

The most legitimate reason for you to not eat turkey is the virus strain of bird flu which is commonly found in turkeys.

Although bird flu can be spread through chickens, turkey meat can be worse for you. The environment in which turkeys are kept makes them more stressed and they even feel threatened.

Apart from that, as they lay fewer eggs in comparison to the chickens, they are more prone to molestation when kept in bulk by the farm owners. Some pathogens named clostridium perfringens, salmonella, and campylobacter are found in turkey meat which makes you suffer through temporary stomach pain, fever, and diarrhea.

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly facts for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestions for whether turkeys lay eggs then why not take a look at Robert Wadlow's height facts or turkey facts?