# Turkey drumsticks **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 9, 2011, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turkey-drumsticks/574046 "2011-03-09T14:42:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2011, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turkey-drumsticks/574046/1 "2011-03-09T14:42:45Z")
Turkey drumsticks have a huge number of little bones and cartilages and muscles . . . as opposed to a chicken drumstick that’s relatively simple. Do turkeys need all this because they weigh more, or is it just an evolutionary fluke? ---
**Author:** ![TravisFromOR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cc9497/32.png) [@TravisFromOR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TravisFromOR)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2011, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turkey-drumsticks/574046/2 "2011-03-09T20:43:50Z")
Chickens have the same cartilage, but being smaller, it gets cooked away. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2011, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turkey-drumsticks/574046/3 "2011-03-09T21:28:07Z")
No, turkey legs have long needle-like bones in them. That’s not cartilage. ---
**Author:** ![Superhal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Superhal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superhal)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2011, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turkey-drumsticks/574046/4 "2011-03-09T21:30:34Z")
Chickens do have the little pointy bone in them and the cartilage cover on the knee joint. However, regarding turkeys, are you referring to the hard tubes? I always thought those were the ends of feathers that didn’t get pulled all the way out. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2011, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turkey-drumsticks/574046/5 "2011-03-09T21:35:10Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > Turkey drumsticks have a huge number of little bones and cartilages and muscles . . . as opposed to a chicken drumstick that’s relatively simple. Do turkeys need all this because they weigh more, or is it just an evolutionary fluke? What seem to be small thin bones are actually mineralized tendons. Calcium is deposited in the tendons and they become hard. This helps to support larger and stronger muscles which are needed for such a large bird to run. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2011, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turkey-drumsticks/574046/6 "2011-03-09T22:11:03Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > What seem to be small thin bones are actually mineralized tendons. Calcium is deposited in the tendons and they become hard. This helps to support larger and stronger muscles which are needed for such a large bird to run. Interesting. Synthesizing the thread, then, your answer applies to turkey drumsticks that do, in fact, have the same tendons as a chicken leg? And ligaments ? ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2011, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turkey-drumsticks/574046/7 "2011-03-09T22:21:11Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > Interesting. Synthesizing the thread, then, your answer applies to turkey drumsticks that do, in fact, have the same tendons as a chicken leg? > And ligaments ? To the best of my knowledge (I am no expert on poultry musculature) the actual muscles and tendons of chickens and turkeys are very similar. The only difference is that some of the tendons of the turkey drumstick have become mineralized and appear bonelike. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2011, 8:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turkey-drumsticks/574046/8 "2011-03-10T08:37:44Z")
> [@TruCelt](#): > > No, turkey legs have long needle-like bones in them. That’s not cartilage. It’s cartilage - it hardens during cooking. If you dissect a raw turkey leg (and I have done this, because it’s one of my favourite meats), you’ll find that all those little flat things are tough, bendy gristle before cooking. ---
**Author:** ![Autolycus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@Autolycus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autolycus)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2011, 10:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turkey-drumsticks/574046/9 "2011-03-10T10:31:43Z")
That extra stuff makes them look bigger, which leads to increase sales at Renaissance Faires. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2011, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turkey-drumsticks/574046/10 "2011-03-10T22:30:13Z")
> [@TruCelt](#): > > No, turkey legs have long needle-like bones in them. That’s not cartilage. Of course it’s cartilage. Hard cartilage to be sure, but definitely not bones. Read Neil Shubin’s book, Your Inner Fish, to see how far back in evolutionary times, the one bone, then two bones, then many little bones, then five digits paradigm goes. Of course, the five digits are often reduced to one or two, but that is a different matter. My wife calls them “corset stays”. ---
**Author:** ![LunarPlexus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@LunarPlexus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LunarPlexus)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2011, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turkey-drumsticks/574046/11 "2011-03-10T23:49:50Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > Do turkeys need all this because they weigh more, or is it just an evolutionary fluke? Are you saying that turkeys evolved from whales? ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2011, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turkey-drumsticks/574046/12 "2011-03-11T03:22:44Z")
> [@LunarPlexus](#): > > Are you saying that turkeys evolved from whales? Actually, Welsh rabbit.