If you are a bird lover then surely you will be in love with this majestic creature turkey. It looks like a kingly bird of the peacock genre.
Since childhood, I have been a fan of Turkey’s amazing personality. I keep on watching this bird for hours and hours on a farm near my home. Whenever I went close to it, I explored something new about this amazing creature. This article is a fine piece of my recent research about one of the important aspects of turkey’s social life and some amazing things about the group of turkeys.
What is a group of turkeys called? Simply, a group of turkeys is called a flock of turkeys or a gang of turkeys. In technical terms, the collection of a large number of turkeys is called a rafter. However, the rafter is used to describe a group of domesticated turkeys in poultry not wild. Few other terms are also rarely used as a brood of turkeys and dule of turkeys.
Turkeys are mostly produced on a large scale in the United States. However, they were not native to the US. The meat of turkey is tender and delicious. People love to make their barbecues. They are active social creatures. They form groups to protect themselves from predators.
Let’s read the details of common names of groups of turkeys.
Table of Contents
Different Group of Turkey Names?
It mainly depends on whether you are talking about a wild group or poultry breeding turkeys. Keeping this fact in mind, there are few very common names used for a group of turkeys. Let’s check out one by one:
Gang
People who know very little often use the term gang to represent the collection of this bird. So, you may notice kids or sometimes adults call them a gang because when they come together they look like a group of gangsters because they are notorious and don’t fear humans at all.
This term is often used to describe more than 20 numbers.
Rafter
You may call the group of turkeys as a rafter. This term is an educated one. Often poultry and domestic breeders use it to represent a collection of turkey. However, you can’t use it for a group of species in the wild. Rafter is widely used by US poultry breeders but customers still don’t know anything about it. This word came from greek in English meaning stitch together. The world rafter itself is not new but its usage as a group of turkeys is somehow exclusive.
Flock
Have you heard the flock of birds in the sky? Yes, this term is very common and oldest to represent a number of birds traveling together. This word can be used for almost all flying or non-flying groups of birds. Flock is not a fixed word for birds only. It can also be used for the collection of people in many situations. For centuries it has been used for the large number of birds that live, eat and fly together. It can also be used for mammals like –
- Flock of sheep
- Flock of goat
What Are The Incorrect Names of a Group of Turkeys
Sometimes people refer to this group with incorrect names. The reason behind this misconception is only a lack of knowledge. There are two wrong terms used for the naming group of turkeys
- Gaggle
Gaggle is term specific for a group of geese, not turkeys. Geese often utter gagging sounds. For this they are gaggle.
Gooble has no meaning, no history no association in context with turkeys. So, both these terms are just wrong ways to call a group of turkeys.
What is The Story Behind Why a Group of Turkey is Called Rafter
Whenever you hear the word rafter, it comes quickly in your mind from where this word came from? What’s the background story behind this term?
Another source is the Arabic word raff which means woven enclosure. It is also related closely to the word roof meaning sheltering.
If you observe a group of wild turkeys they seem to be trotting for shelter along the woods. From distance, they look live woven or stitch together in a disciplined way. For this reason, the group of turkeys is referred to as rafter.
What is a Group of Baby Turkeys Called
What if you call baby turkey as a baby bird? But you might be curious to know the official term for a group of baby turkeys.
The Group of baby turkeys is called poults or chicks. This term is derived by poultry breeders and often consumers don’t understand it at all baby turkeys look very cute just like chicks. They move near the mother bird as they are delicate enough and cant protect themselves from predators.
For domesticated breeders baby birds are poults. For wild and non-domesticated immature young ones you may use the term chick also. There are no hard and fast rules about naming this animal group, If you do any mistake, nobody will punish you. Believe me.
What is a Large Group of Turkeys Called
Turkeys are social animals that love to form groups. Both wild and domestic turkeys prefer to live and fly together for safety. Sometimes they may form a large group of 20-40. This happens more in domestic birds and less in the wild. Rafter is a technical term used for large groups of turkeys. This term is derived from the word raft which means “large collection of something”.
James Lipton, a renowned bird lover first used this term for the description of a large group of turkeys in his writings. Now in the USA breeders use it very often.
What Do You Call a Group of Turkeys
The expressive term is a gang and the technical term is rafter. However few collective nouns are also there which are rarely used for a group of turkeys. All these collective nouns are correct from the language point of view. However, some are very common while others are least common. Let’s see these collective nouns –
- “Brood of Turkeys”
- “Dule of Turkeys”
- “Flock of Turkeys”
- “Raffle of Turkeys”
- “Rafter of Turkeys”
What Do You Call a Bunch of Turkeys
Simply a bunch of turkeys is a flock and gang. Turkeys are intensely active birds with aggressive personalities. To observe their social behaviors, I often stand behind bars in poultry houses. They move towards food in a group while females follow baby birds. They always seem to form a bunch or groups. If you know little, you may call them only a bunch of turkeys, the flock of turkeys. Kids may even call them chicks or groups of turkeys.
What Do You Call a Flock of Turkeys
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Frequently Asked Questions (Faqs)
What is a group of turkeys called gaggle?
No, a group of turkeys is never called a gaggle. Only the group of geese is called a gaggle. It is a misconception anyhow.
How many turkeys are in a rafter?
In rafter, you may find as few as two turkeys and as large as 40 turkeys. It depends on how much they are there in the poultry farm cage at that time.
Why is it called a rafter of turkeys?
The Word rafter is derived from the Greek word raft which means” Large in number”. James Lipton’s first named group of turkeys as a rafter.
What is a group of ravens called?
Ravens are the name of symbolic crow while a group of ravens is termed as unkindness and conspiracy. Since ravens are associated traditionally with creepy habits.
What is the wrong name of a group of turkeys?
Gooble and gaggles are incorrect names for a group of turkeys. Gaggle refers to a group of geese, not turkeys. Similarly, gooble is the wrong word and has nothing to do with turkeys.
Final Words
For bird lovers, what is a group of turkeys called is a very interesting and informative article. It covers almost all possible names suggested for the collection of turkeys.
After reading this you can identify that flock and gang are widely used for wild groups whereas rafter is the modern term for a number of domesticated turkeys in poultry. All this information is authentic and collected from original sources. If you find it helpful, do share it with your friends.
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