What is a group of turkeys called? A group of turkeys is called a rafter. Other collective nouns used to describe a group of turkeys include a flock of turkeys and a band of turkeys. Some birders claim flock for domesticated turkeys and rafters for the wild varieties, but in reality there is no evidence written or on tape to support this weak claim.
We suspect it is nothing more than a choice that has persisted in humans over the centuries. As an animal conversationalist or the average Joe, you really can’t be distracted by calling a group of turkeys anything other than their real name of rafters; be it a flock or a mob.
Some other incorrect terms used by people in North America include “spook” or “cluck” of turkeys, benefit of turkeys, harvest of turkeys (perhaps because they are found harassing around and within fields), and “lottery” of turkeys. You can use any of these terms of worship in conversations or in your articles and believe me, it will work out just fine. be sure to use the term turkey raf when you want to sound professional and prove it while trying.
What is a group of turkeys called? What exactly is a rafter?
What is a group of turkeys called? The word rafter basically means a beam that is part of the internal frame of a roof – Oxford Advanced Dictionary.
Fascinatingly, the term “rafter” also had or has another meaning, namely a small collection of similar things in a whole, according to to James Lipton, author of the amazing book “An Exaltation of Larks “, where the idea of a roof rafter for turkeys is used mainly for this article.
The fact that rafter also meant a collection of similar things into a whole, for example many logs bound together to form a unit, might have been the sole inspiration for calling groups of turkeys rafters.
But it doesn’t just stop there. There are a handful of theories floating around the Internet that attempt to explain the origin of the phrase “turkey truss.” Below we list some of the most prominent.
Why does a group of turkeys become a rafter?
What is a group of turkeys called and why? It is because of their sitting behavior. According to some weak sources, a group of turkeys is called a rafter because of their habit of sitting on building rafters to rest or seek shelter from predators during the early days of European occupation of North America.
European workers (who built buildings) at the time noticed these strange habits of turkeys and therefore associated the term rafter for any group they found resting on these structures. Over time, the name grew popular and today a group of turkeys is known as a rafter of turkeys.
The true meaning of rafters
Another source claims that the use of the term truss for group of turkeys is related to the Greek and Arabic words of r aphtine (Greek) – meaning to sew together, TaPHar (Greek) meaning to sew together, and raff (Arabic) related to the word roof – meaning a woven enclosure or shelter for sheep.
The previous words are related to the word rhapsody – which once meant a compilation of something, although the current meaning is far from that. The much more recent word truss is related to all three words from above, and today means a compilation of beams.
According to sources, the use of the term truss for turkeys probably must have stemmed from the fact that turkeys flee away in a tangled and crisscross fashion when startled by humans or predators. They spread their paths through the forest to confuse the predator or person who was chasing them.
This weaving and bonding pattern as an escape behavior that matches the meaning of the basic words that the term “truss” “itself is derived from, justifies the choice of the word truss for a group of turkeys.
From the ancient phrase
Another theory similar to the second is that the choice of the word truss has to do with the ancient phrase “to the nth degree,” which is basically about -excitement, overreaction or panic behavior of an animal or person.
Because turkeys also exhibit this type of panic behavior when pursued by humans or predators, the use of the term truss to describe a group of turkeys became popular.
How many turkeys make up a rafter?
What is a group of turkeys called, how many are needed? As few as two and as many as 40 turkeys form a rafter. This includes chickens and their chicks, in addition to other females and male batches.
Wait a minute: why are turkeys called turkeys in the first place?
Turkeys are called turkeys because of a certain middle bird called guinea fowl.
Guinea fowl are birds that resemble turkeys in external morphology and originated in East Africa.
During the reign of the Ottoman Empire (an empire created by the Turks), guinea fowls were imported from East Africa through the Ottoman Empire, where Europeans at the time called them turkey cock or turkey hen because they came from the Turks.
When the New World settlers (of Turkish land) began sending similar chickens (the turkeys we know today), they named them turkeys after the Europeans from earlier familiarity. And so the name turkey for the bird persisted.
