The Animals
Turkeys
When sanctuary visitors meet our resident turkeys for the first time, many people are amazed by these birds’ intelligence, engagement and hospitality. Not only are turkeys enduring individuals, they are also quite interesting. We’re delighted to share interesting facts about our favorite birds:
1. Turkeys love shades of red.
2. An adult turkey has over 3,500 feathers on his or her body.
3. Female turkeys lay freckled eggs.
4. An adult male turkey is a tom; an adult female turkey is a hen; a young male turkey is a jake; a young female turkey is a jenny; a baby turkey (male and female) is a poult.
5. Turkeys eat rocks to aid in the digestion of food.
6. The normal body temperature of a turkey is between 105 and 107°F.
7. Turkeys are native to North America.
8. Founding Father, Ben Franklin called for the turkey to be the national bird of the United States of America.
9. In the wild, turkeys can glide as fast as 55 miles per hour.
10. Turkeys have excellent eye sight. However, they cannot see well after dark.
Each year in November, we hold a Toast to the Turkeys Celebration in honor of the rescued turkeys of Harvest Home Animal Sanctuary.
Pigeons
Our friends at MickaCoo Pigeon and Dove Rescue save these beautiful birds, and a group of pigeons came to Harvest Home in February 2011 after they were dumped like trash in the City of Oakland. Together with our other rescued King pigeons, they will live out their natural lives in peace.
The plight of King pigeons in modern food production is largely unknown to the general public. Like other animals raised for food, adult King pigeons and their offspring (squab) are raised in unsanitary, intensive confinement. California’s upper San Joaquin Valley is a leader in squab production in the United States.
Squab are young domestic pigeons raised for their meat. They are marketed at 28 days after hatching. It is a high-end delicacy meat analogous to veal and foie gras. Squab is popular in metropolitan areas such as San Francisco and New York City.
A commercial squab operation maintains 1:1 sex ratio among its breeder flocks. Male-female breeding pairs are monogamous. Each pair shares the rearing responsibilities of their offspring’s slaughter. Breeding pigeons are replaced typically every 4 to 5 years. Spent breeder pigeons are sold for meat. At the processing plant, squab and spent breeders are denied basic humane slaughter protections.
As an organization dedicated to alleviating the suffering of animals abused in modern agriculture, it’s our duty to shed light on the untold story of King pigeons. By telling the King pigeons’ common story, we have the compassionate opportunity to save the lives of even more animals in the future.
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