I remember way back in childhood my mom actually cleaning poultry!! Now, by this I mean picking out a bird, chopping the head off (yes, they do run 'wild' a short time after this --it's reflex!!). Then, in pre preparation, she'd have this humungous pail ready...with boiling water to pour in. After she poured the scalding water into the pail (just outside the back stoop --she called the enclosed porch a stoop) and grab the bird from the ground just beside her and the water...dunk the bird. The steam and odor from the wet feathers was something I never have forgotten. But, I never flinched at the sight of butchering. I grew up with it, when we'd be at grandma's house - on the farm. After the bird was saturated and the steaming vapors were settled, she'd pull the bird out by it's feet and then I'd get to help!! And pluck away we did!! The pin feathers were most difficult for my little hands. Now, as I no longer have mom beside me, I can sit back and recall my younger days---in a way, cleaning birds was a bonding moment for mom and daughter!! Anyway, sitting here thinking of our huge Thanksgiving meals reminded me not only of cleaning fowl, but of hunting for wild turkeys and Canadian Geese in Colorado when I was younger!!
My older brothers and father were the great white hunters!! Turkey season...they'd traipse out into the woods and call for the turkeys. The 'whistle' would sound like a wild turkey. There were actually 'hen' whistles (callers) and 'tom' callers!
Now, today, the turkey is depicted as dumb!! Personally, I don't think so! Not the wild turkeys anyway. They have very sharp instincts and hard to hunt ---many times we'd go hunting--being still and quiet was the hardest part for me if none were sighted in the vast fields--boredom would set in! Yet, being a "tomboy" --I enjoyed the times I could be with the big guys and see what they enjoyed so much. But, days would go by with no luck.
If you look up the word turkey in a dictionary or online, the definition for slang is 'turkey: dumb, dud'. Are they really dumb? I say no. Have you ever wondered why when you as the hunter, and use the hen caller---why do the tom turkeys circle around you and come in to investigate BEHIND you and your blind (a blind is a camouflaged area where you're supposed to be invisible!! LOL); the birds KNEW something wasn't right...they KNEW there was danger!!!
I think wild turkeys are beautiful. I couldn't go hunting for sport any longer like the 'good ol' days'!! Besides, wild turkey doesn't taste like the genetically inseminated birds from a poultry farm(they have a gamey taste...like sagebrush actually!)---today, I would do the hunting in a supermarket freezer section!
Along with memories of mom and I, cleaning birds and gutting them....ya, I can 'gut' them with the best of farmer's daughters!! But, to this day I cannot cut a whole chicken up as quickly and proficiently as my mom could!! She was a pro!!
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Turkey facts I learned as I grew up:
1)The part of 'skin' that grows OVER the beak is called a SNOOD
2)The part of 'skin' under the beak is called a WATTLE
3)The 'skin' CAN change color from shades of gray to bright reds or blues when the bird is stressed.
4)Having turkeys in your yard make great watch 'dogs'...their sense of hearing and keen sight is tops in the animal kingdom!
5)CARNUCLE is the throat skin
6)Turkey is derived from "TUKA" an Indian name for peacock (Indian as in West Indies)
7)Turkey eggs are called a CLUTCH
Oh, and one more thing --when at my grandma's farm, turkeys and chickens were loose, rarely penned up in cages---turkeys LOVE to kill snakes!!! Cool, huh? I've always had a snake phobia, poisonous or otherwise!!! So I say ---"Go you Turkeys!! Have at 'em!!!"
* MrsGreenThumb * Carole Burant * Carmen * Carmen * Janet * PJ * Unknown * Susie * Melli * Irish Church Lady :) * Gattina * *
13 Comments:
I remember helping to kill chickens when I was a little girl. It was my job to catch them after they'd been chopped and pile them up for my mom. Dad always butchered several at a time, and then we froze them back.
Thanks for stopping by my blog, I just found your comment today.
I've never killed or cleaned a turkey. My husband and son's used to pheasant hunt but I would never actually touch them until they were clean. My folks had a grocery store so the closest we came to meat was already clean and my dad cut it up. I think you have great memories with you family, that's really nice. Watching your dad cut up pork chops doesn't have quite the same feeling. Funny how the holidays bring out those long ago memories.
My mom was raised on a farm and I love listening to her stories about life on it, including when it was time to kill the chickens and turkeys. I don't think we have wild turkeys in this area, at least I've never seen one or heard of anyone hunting them! We have partridge hunting, that's the only bird I know of that we hunt for around here. My dad use to go partridge hunting every year and I never cared for the meat...too gamey for my taste! What interesting facts about the turkey...didn't know that!! xox
awww. i love your Christmas blog design. I'm launching one after thanksgiving. :) Can I steal the blinking lights?
thank you so much for my blinkie lights. :) do you have some kind of software that lets you make all these blinkies? :) I've downloaded, you can delete from your album.
I've never killed or cleaned anything but do know some about it as I visited my grandparents cattle ranch where everything was raised right there. I enjoyed all the tidbits of information about turkeys but found the last one fantastic....since I HATE snakes!!
What a great post.
If I had to pull the feathers believe me it would be salad for dinner..lol.
Good Day, Wystful!
Love, love, love the new template!Really puts me in the Christmas spirit!
Great Monday Memory. My mother's parents had a farm and I vividly remember my grandmother killing chickens. I was always fascinated by the ritual and like you, I also remember that horrid smell.
We have loads of wild turkeys around here. We feed the birds and they are frequent "guests" at our feeders. LOL.. I love to watch them from my kitchen window and I agree with you they are much smarter than people think. I enjoy watching the older males "do battle" with the younger males for dominance over the females in the flock. Pretty funny stuff....
Great post.
Have a great evening!
This post was loaded with all kinds of info I never knew about turkeys. I've never had to butcher anything and hope I never do!
My son has flocks of wild turkeys on his property and they come around twice per day for grain that he puts out for them.
My folks didn't clean poultry (like that) too often! Only ONCE that I know of -- and I wasn't born yet! But apparently someone got the twins some live "chicks" for easter one year -- and, well... you know! Fried Chicken and Potatoe salad were my father's favorite summertime dishes! LOL!
GOBBLE GOBBLE!
Happy Turkey Day Wys!
Great memory post for Thanksgiving week W1!
I'm such a weeny. I was proud of myself to just be cleaning and cooking the turkey this year for our Canadian Thanksgiving in October. Usually I have hubby to help me but he was away this year. I'm not too fond of handling the inards etc. even though they are in a bag!!!
Good for you for learning how to pluck a turkey from an early age!
Oh my, you decorated your blog already for Christmas ! Beautiful ! Yes childhood souvenirs are nice but fortunately today we don't have all this work anymore. And hunting, I hate it could never look at those beautiful animals being shot ! I think I would rather kill the hunter. (I wrote about hunting recently) and I could never eat a turkey, chicken or whatever when I had seen it alive before it landed up on my plate !
Good Morning, Ms W!
Wow, this post really brought back some memories, let me tell ya...but my momma did the chicken killing instead of turkeys. *s*
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