A turkey with the qualities of a chameleon

Mahasamund (Chhattisgarh), May 28 : Consequent to threats posed by avian flu, many poultry farm owners have taken to rearing Australian turkeys and ostriches.

Amidst these developments, an amazing turkey in Chhattisgarh has become the centre of attraction for changing its colour within a span of 30 minutes.

"This is an Australian turkey. The demand of this turkey is very high in the market, but I don't want to sell it. It changes its colour in the span of 15-20 minutes. Sometimes it changes its colour to white, red or sometimes blue," said Khurshid Bano Qureshi, the owner of the poultry farm.

The turkey has been named after Shahrukh Khan (SRK).

"Because Shahrukh is the most famous personality in the film industry at present, we have named it Shahrukh," Qureshi added.

According to Qureshi, the turkey has proved to be very lucky for her business, as her business. "Our customers have increased. Our business has seen good growth and this turkey has been proved lucky for us," Qureshi said.

Veterinarians have attributed this to the changing patterns in blood circulation.

"Being a member of the turkey family, its body is heavy as compared to the normal poultry bird such a cock or a hen. And as the number of blood veins is more in the body of a turkey, it changes its colour and becomes red. As the blood circulation goes down, it becomes white and when the blood circulation becomes very low, it changes its colour into light blue," said Dr. C C Chandrakar, a veterinarian, based in Mahasamund.

Shahrukh is reportedly eight months old and weighs ten kilograms and is two and a half feet tall.

The turkey was purchased in Kolkata.

ANI