This actually happened to me 40 years ago! We bought a small farm and I decided to raise chickens. I bought 20 mixed baby chicks thinking I'd keep 12 egg layers and one rooster and butcher the extras. Then I saw the turkey's! Oh yes, turkey dinners! So I bought 5 turkeys. They all grew and the chickens started laying eggs and the turkeys were getting big enough to butcher. However I found one turkey had started sitting on a 6 chicken eggs. Great! I added 6 more eggs under her so I'd get more chickens and I butchered the other 4 turkeys. 12 days later the eggs were all gone. I chewed the kids out for gathering those eggs and added more eggs, 16 days later...a repeat. I told the kids I'd gather the eggs myself even though they kept saying they didn't take the eggs ! I put more eggs under the turkey. 15 days passed and I checked under the turkey and the eggs were gone. I knew the kids didn't get them. I also noticed the turkey was HUGE! That darn turkey was eating the eggs! I found out Thanksgiving day that a 34 pound turkey would barely fit in my oven!
I love your tale of the turkey! We had one hen who would sneak into a nest box and eat an egg. I have a glass darning egg used for darning socks, and also useful for breaking a hen of the habit of eating eggs. I think she had a sore beak for a couple of days!
Really, really good Thanksgiving story. They say that sometimes the truth is stranger than fiction. I would have never thought that the turkey would have been eating those eggs! That is remarkable. Bon appétite.
I know that darn egg eating turkey sure gained a lot of weight on them. I wonder if they can have high cholesterol? I do remember it was very tender and juicy and that it wouldn't fit on my largest platter. I inherited a super large roasting pan that it barely fit it and it took a long time to cook. It also fed 17 people with leftovers sent home with all. My fondest memories is being on our little 7 acres and raising the kids and all kinds of animals.
