Turkey is best associated with Thanksgiving. However, it is also one of the more popular meats that is consumed outside the holiday season and as a result, it is the fourth most-consumed meat in the US – right behind chicken, cow, and pig.
Turkey is a great substitute for all these other meats, as well as being just a tasty main event. Whenever you hit the grocery store, you’re bound to find turkey meat in the deli aisle, the butcher aisle, but you’ll never see anything that isn’t turkey meat. In other words, you’ll never see turkey eggs at the grocery store. And now that we’ve pointed it out, you might be wondering why that is.
Well, apparently it has nothing to do with their taste. In fact, they’re quite edible. However, according to Modern Farmer, the reason we don’t see turkey eggs being sold in grocery stores is because it’s just not economically worth it.
Most turkeys are just raised for slaughter rather than eggs because they don’t really produce a lot of eggs to make it practical for egg farming. A mature female turkey will lay two eggs per week – in stark contrast to mature female chickens or even ducks, who lay one egg per day.
Another factor is that turkeys live longer than chickens which means that they don’t reach their egg laying maturity till later. Chickens start laying eggs around 5 months while turkeys won’t start laying eggs till 7 months. Plus, they’re bigger than chickens which means they require more room and food than chickens would.
So, with all that extra required resources and labor, it would mean that one turkey egg alone would cost $3 or more – already double the price of a regular carton of chicken eggs.
Of course, there is always a market for luxury items, but there some who would argue that turkey eggs aren’t worth the flashy price tag. Many who have eaten a turkey egg say that they’re not any different from the chicken or duck egg. Granted, the one big difference before the two eggs isn’t taste but size. Turkey eggs are bigger and have thicker shells.
Have you ever tried a turkey egg? Would you want to see them sold in grocery stores? Let us know!