General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsDoes a farmer feeding beer to turkeys bother you?
Turkey farmer's secret to tasty turkeys: Beer
http://www.ajc.com/news/news/national/turkey-farmers-secret-tasty-turkeys-beer/nbnYh/
But Boston turkey farmer Joe Morette takes it a step further. He starts preparing his birds for maximum deliciousness while they're still alive by giving them beer. (Via WBZ-TV)
Morette insists the beer he serves his turkeys makes them fatter, jucier, and tastier than usual. (Via WCVB)
Morette has been raising tipsy turkeys since 1993 but getting his birds on the sauce actually started as an accident.
"It started by accident when a turkey knocked over a can and started sipping. When Joe cooked him up for Thanksgiving, he noticed a fat and more flavorful bird." (Via KUSA)
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory/tipsy-turkeys-nh-birds-fed-beer-flavor-size-20825153
The animal rights group PETA said turkeys shouldn't be fed beer and that "farmers across the country use questionable practices to keep costs down or to alter the taste of animals' flesh because their priority is profit, not the animals' welfare."
But a poultry expert with the University of New Hampshire Cooperative Extension said it is unlikely the birds are suffering.
"I don't know exactly how much beer each turkey is consuming, but it would have to be a lot in order for it to kind of have the same effect as too much beer on people," said Carl Majewski, field specialist in food and agriculture. "I imagine it's not enough to really make 'em tipsy or anything like that. It's just enjoying a beer with their meal. Why not?"
7 votes, 0 passes | Time left: Unlimited | |
Yes | |
1 (14%) |
|
No | |
6 (86%) |
|
0 DU members did not wish to select any of the options provided. | |
Show usernames
Disclaimer: This is an Internet poll |
underpants
(182,834 posts)I just wanted to give a full picture of this story
Aerows
(39,961 posts)you should ask if it's okay to kill a rat that bit you on the foot. There is nothing wrong with having to go through a battery of shots, spend thousands of dollars, and worry that you have a disease as long as an animal is not harmed.
I say that as a cat owner, and I adore her. PETA takes things too far.
Blue Owl
(50,427 posts)longship
(40,416 posts)NightWatcher
(39,343 posts)jberryhill
(62,444 posts)Obviously, he is not poisoning them.
Some birds do metabolize alcohol in a way that makes them drunk, which also happens naturally during certain seasons to birds who eat fruit:
http://www.australiangeographic.com.au/journal/drunk-animals-inebriation-in-the-wild.htm
They stagger all over the place, can't keep steady on their perches, and fall head first into their food bowls. Meet the lorikeets under vet Dr Stephen Cutter's care.
He's used to riding out the drunken parrot season before the rains each year, when scores of intoxicated red-collared lorikeets (Trichoglossus rubritorquis) are picked up off Darwin's streets and brought to the Ark Animal Hospital in Palmerston. But this year is so bad he's calling it "a massive outbreak".
BainsBane
(53,035 posts)wired into cages so they spend their entire lives without walking.
Aerows
(39,961 posts)before the final gobble.
KamaAina
(78,249 posts)In fact, I think this guy might have come up with a use for Bud Light.
petronius
(26,602 posts)If that's what he's using, I do have a problem with it. He shouldn't be taunting the poor birds by promising beer and then not delivering...
muriel_volestrangler
(101,322 posts)B Calm
(28,762 posts)Incitatus
(5,317 posts)Nye Bevan
(25,406 posts)I would want it to be this guy's farm.
William769
(55,147 posts)Thats how you get Wild Turkey!
underpants
(182,834 posts)zbdent
(35,392 posts)FSogol
(45,491 posts)whistler162
(11,155 posts)Skink
(10,122 posts)Scootaloo
(25,699 posts)I imagine hte only problem turkeys would have is the carbonation - but stale beer shouldn't bother htem. it's not like htey're going to be around long enough for liver damage to be a thing.
That said, you'd get the same effect from feeding them potato chips or crisco - the calories lead to fat production, which leads to juicier meat and more flavor.
Brigid
(17,621 posts)Guinness?