Poultry of the Week: Broad Breasted White Turkey
Posted on October 22, 2009
The Broad Breasted White is commercially the most widely-used breed of domesticated turkey.
The modern domesticated turkey is descended from one of six subspecies of Wild Turkey, Meleagris gallopavo gallopavo, ancient Mesoamericans having chosen to domesticate this taxon. The Aztecs domesticated the turkey (Mexican Spanish guajolote, from Nahuatl huexolotl) and used it as a major source of protein (meat and eggs), and also employed its feathers extensively for decorative purposes, as did many other Mesoamerican cultures. The turkey was associated with their trickster god Tezcatlipoca, perhaps because of its humorous behavior. There is also evidence that it is possible the Hopi Indians may have domesticated the turkey even before the Aztecs.
Turkeys were taken to Europe by the Spanish who had found them as a favorite domesticated animal among the Aztecs and other Mesoamerican peoples. After being introduced to Europe many distinct turkey breeds were developed (e.g. Spanish Black, Royal Palm). Turkey was one of the many game species hunted by early American colonists and is thought to have been served at the first Thanksgiving, although there is little evidence to support this claim. In the early 20th century, many advances were made in the breeding of turkeys resulting in varieties such as the Beltsville Small White.
(from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domestic_turkey)
