We eat turkey every holiday — yet most people have never even seen a turkey egg. Why?
It turns out, the answer isn’t simple. It’s part biology, part economics, and part old-fashioned myth. Turkeys, unlike chickens, are slow and selective layers. “They don’t start laying until about seven months old,” explained Kimmon Williams of the National Turkey Federation. Chickens, on the other hand, begin at five months — and can lay six eggs a week.
That difference means one turkey egg would cost at least $3 each, or $36 a dozen — far too pricey for supermarket shelves. And while chefs say turkey yolks make “incredible sauces,” they’re much higher in fat and cholesterol than chicken eggs. Delicious? Yes. Practical? Not quite.
History didn’t help either. When Europeans first encountered turkeys in the 1500s, rumors spread — especially in France — that their eggs caused leprosy. Though untrue, the myth stuck. Even in early America, when turkey eggs appeared on fancy menus at Delmonico’s in New York, chicken eggs eventually took over thanks to industrial farming.
Today, turkey eggs are rare delicacies, found mostly on specialty farms. A reminder that sometimes, what disappears from our tables has less to do with taste — and more to do with time, tradition, and forgotten history.
