Meet the Turkeys - Have a Little Hope

From now until Thanksgiving, it's all about the turkeys who call Animal Place sanctuary home. As you meet the turkeys, I hope you will reconsider the main course for the upcoming holiday. To help you, I'll be adding recipes and purchase suggestions at the end of each post. All of these entries are in honor of the turkeys not lucky enough to end up at a sanctuary...spare them a thought this holiday.
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Did you know that when it rains, Hope goes inside a barn? And when she cannot do that, she hides her head beneath a wing? I am so serious. If anyone makes the moronic suggestion turkeys gaze fondly at rain clouds and subsequently drown themselves, refer them to Hope. She'll peck their eyes out. I AM SO KIDDING, Hope is not a hater.

Hope and Esperanza, a beautiful black hen, are the sole survivors of a cruelty case in Santa Cruz. Some would call it neglect, but I've always felt that when you withhold food and water from an animal solely reliant on your benevolence...that's cruelty.

More than a dozen animals were not survivors. They were victims, left to starve and waste away before help could arrive. Hope and Esperanza comforted each other and did their best to find food and safety while their friends died. When rescued, both were malnourished and sickly.

Now they are healthy and happy.

Did you know Benjamin Franklin wanted turkeys to be our national bird, because they don't go around plucking baby deer from their moms or fish from their streams. Geez, eagles.

White-breasted turkeys like Hope are bred to gain an enormous amount of weight in a short period of time. If human children grew at the same rate, they'd weigh like 250 lbs by the age of 2. RIDONCULOUS! Turkeys are not fed hormones, although they are given antibiotic-laced food. Antibiotics and antimicrobials are used as growth-promotants. They are not given to animals who are sick...it is one reason there are antibiotic-resistant bacteria out there.

But enough of that, we gotta have hope. Hope does, especially in the morning when caregivers bring food. She keeps the hope alive there will be a lot more. Make a lot of food in her honor...just don't include her sister as the main course, please!

I mean, how cute is Hope and her interspecies friendship with Esperanza:



Hope likes to share, which is why she'd like to make a toast with some tasty beverages for Thanksgiving.

Keep it cozy and warm with some mulled apple cider, or fire chai, or some creamy hot cocoa.

If you're a boozer, check out some mulled red wine sangria.

If you are one of those people who wants to spend five eons to make a tiny shot glass worth of drink, check out Ginger Juice shooters.

And remember to drink lots of water!

Previous Turkey-Friendly Entries include
Morris and the Main Course (of which he is not it),  
Willow of the French accent and cranberry side. 
Maya and the side dishes, which don't include any of her barnyard friends