domesticated turkey

The domestic turkey (Meleagris gallopavo domesticus) is a large fowl, one of the two species in the genus Meleagris and the same species as the wild turkey. Although turkey domestication was thought to have occurred in central Mesoamerica at least 2,000 years ago, recent research suggests a possible second domestication event in the area that is now the southwestern United States between 200 BC and 500 AD. However, all of the main domestic turkey varieties today descend from the turkey raised in central Mexico that was subsequently imported into Europe by the Spanish in the 16th century.

The domestic turkey is a popular form of poultry. It is raised throughout temperate parts of the world, partially because industrialized farming has made it very cheap for the amount of meat it produces. Female domestic turkeys are called hens, and the chicks are poults or turkeylings. In Canada and the United States, male turkeys are called toms. In the United Kingdom and Ireland, they are stags.