Talking Turkeys (Part 1)

Be nice to yu turkeys dis christmas
Cos’ turkeys just wanna hav fun
Turkeys are cool, turkeys are wicked
An every turkey has a Mum.
Be nice to yu turkeys dis christmas,
Don’t eat it, keep it alive,
It could be yu mate, an not on your plate
Say, Yo! Turkey I’m on your side.
I got lots of friends who are turkeys
An all of dem fear christmas time,
Dey wanna enjoy it, dey say humans destroyed it
An humans are out of dere mind,
Yeah, I got lots of friends who are turkeys
Dey all hav a right to a life,
Not to be caged up an genetically made up
By any farmer an his wife.

Turkeys just wanna play reggae
Turkeys just wanna hip-hop
Can yu imagine a nice young turkey saying,
ÒI cannot wait for de chopÓ,
Turkeys like getting presents, dey wanna watch christmas TV,
Turkeys hav brains an turkeys feel pain
In many ways like yu an me.

I once knew a turkey called…….. Turkey
He said “Benji explain to me please,
Who put de turkey in christmas
An what happens to christmas trees?”,
I said “I am not too sure turkey
But itÕs nothing to do wid Christ Mass
Humans get greedy an waste more dan need be
An business men mek loadsa cash’.

Be nice to yu turkey dis christmas
Invite dem indoors fe sum greens
Let dem eat cake an let dem partake
In a plate of organic grown beans,
Be nice to yu turkey dis christmas
An spare dem de cut of de knife,
Join Turkeys United an dey’ll be delighted
An yu will mek new friends ‘FOR LIFE’.

Reproduced with permission from Benjamin Zephaniah

10 FUN FACTS ABOUT TURKEY

Turkeys originated from Mexico not Turkey.

Turkeys have been around for 10 million years – there are fossils to prove it.

There are 43 different breeds of turkey. The most common in the UK are standard white, bronze and Norfolk black breeds. The white turkey is the second fastest growing animal in the world

In 1930 it took a week’s wage to buy a turkey. Now it takes 1.7 hours.

Female turkeys are called hens, male turkeys are stags and baby turkeys are called poults until they are 5 weeks old.

The average weight of a Christmas turkey is 5.5kg/12lb. Approx 10 million are eaten in UK every Christmas.

Israel is the world’s biggest eater of turkey at 13kg per capita (UK 4.8kg)

Turkeys do not have ears like ours but have very good hearing

The world record for the largest gathering of people dressed as turkeys is 661 and was accomplished at the 44th Annual Capital One Bank Dallas YMCA Turkey Trot in Dallas, Texas, USA on 24 November 2011.

The world record fastest time to pluck three turkeys is 11 min 30.16 sec and was achieved by Paul Kelly of Kelly Turkeys, at Little Claydon Farm, Essex, United Kingdom, on 13 November 2008.This was attempted as part of Gordon Ramsay’s Cookalong show and Paul went head to head against Gordon Ramsay who plucked three turkeys in 11 min 31.78 sec.
Source: Guinness Book of Records

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