Does a farmer feeding beer to turkeys bother you?

[underpants]

Turkey farmer's secret to tasty turkeys: Beer
http://www.ajc.com/news/news/national/turkey-farmers-secret-tasty-turkeys-beer/nbnYh/

But Boston turkey farmer Joe Morette takes it a step further. He starts preparing his birds for maximum deliciousness while they're still alive — by giving them beer. (Via WBZ-TV)

Morette insists the beer he serves his turkeys makes them fatter, jucier, and tastier than usual. (Via WCVB)

Morette has been raising tipsy turkeys since 1993 — but getting his birds on the sauce actually started as an accident.

"It started by accident when a turkey knocked over a can and started sipping. When Joe cooked him up for Thanksgiving, he noticed a fat and more flavorful bird." (Via KUSA)


http://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory/tipsy-turkeys-nh-birds-fed-beer-flavor-size-20825153
The animal rights group PETA said turkeys shouldn't be fed beer and that "farmers across the country use questionable practices to keep costs down or to alter the taste of animals' flesh because their priority is profit, not the animals' welfare."

But a poultry expert with the University of New Hampshire Cooperative Extension said it is unlikely the birds are suffering.

"I don't know exactly how much beer each turkey is consuming, but it would have to be a lot in order for it to kind of have the same effect as too much beer on people," said Carl Majewski, field specialist in food and agriculture. "I imagine it's not enough to really make 'em tipsy or anything like that. It's just enjoying a beer with their meal. Why not?"

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[underpants]

1. I do not mean this as a poll on PETA

I just wanted to give a full picture of this story

[Aerows]

3. If you wanted a poll on PETA

you should ask if it's okay to kill a rat that bit you on the foot. There is nothing wrong with having to go through a battery of shots, spend thousands of dollars, and worry that you have a disease as long as an animal is not harmed.

I say that as a cat owner, and I adore her. PETA takes things too far.

[Blue Owl]

2. It's Miller Time for ol' Tom!

[longship]

4. I ALWAYS have beer with turkey, so why not. nt

[NightWatcher]

5. they're about to be dinner, so let em have a few drinks

[jberryhill]

6. Birds eat fermented fruit in the wild regularly

Obviously, he is not poisoning them.

Some birds do metabolize alcohol in a way that makes them drunk, which also happens naturally during certain seasons to birds who eat fruit:

http://www.australiangeographic.com.au/journal/drunk-animals-inebriation-in-the-wild.htm

They stagger all over the place, can't keep steady on their perches, and fall head first into their food bowls. Meet the lorikeets under vet Dr Stephen Cutter's care.

He's used to riding out the drunken parrot season before the rains each year, when scores of intoxicated red-collared lorikeets (Trichoglossus rubritorquis) are picked up off Darwin's streets and brought to the Ark Animal Hospital in Palmerston. But this year is so bad he's calling it "a massive outbreak".

[BainsBane]

7. What bothers me is mass market turkeys

wired into cages so they spend their entire lives without walking.

[Aerows]

13. At least they get a beer or two

before the final gobble.

[KamaAina]

8. Not at all.

In fact, I think this guy might have come up with a use for Bud Light.

[petronius]

15. OK, you changed my mind

If that's what he's using, I do have a problem with it. He shouldn't be taunting the poor birds by promising beer and then not delivering...

[muriel_volestrangler]

20. That *is* what this parrot drinks ...

http://zeff.net/BirdPics.htm

and he's still healthy enough to race the bike.

[B Calm]

9. If I was on death row, I would like a lot of beer!

[Incitatus]

10. I'd like a few beers first if someone was going to cut off my head. nt

[Nye Bevan]

11. If I was a turkey in a turkey farm

I would want it to be this guy's farm.

[William769]

12. No.

Thats how you get Wild Turkey!

[underpants]

16. LOL

[zbdent]

14. as long as they don't get behind the wheel ...

[FSogol]

17. Isn't beer and wild turkey called a boiler maker?

[whistler162]

18. Kobi Turkey

[Skink]

19. I love turkey flavored beer

[Scootaloo]

21. Deer get absolutely shitfaced from the rotten apples in the neighborhood

I imagine hte only problem turkeys would have is the carbonation - but stale beer shouldn't bother htem. it's not like htey're going to be around long enough for liver damage to be a thing.

That said, you'd get the same effect from feeding them potato chips or crisco - the calories lead to fat production, which leads to juicier meat and more flavor.

[Brigid]

22. Does he feed them the good stuff?

Guinness?