Law Students

Happy Thanksgiving

How do turkeys breed? With a little help from their human friends.

The vast majority of turkeys sold in the United States are of the white broad-breasted variety. These birds have been bred to produce as much white breast meat as possible, resulting in males so large and unwieldy that they can't properly mount the females.

Toms therefore have to be manually stimulated and "milked" for their semen, which is then inserted into a hen using a syringe. . . .

Farmers also use artificial lights to trick birds into thinking that it's spring?their natural breeding season?all year-round, thereby increasing their production.

Full post as published by Expressio Unius on November 25, 2008 (boomark / email).