We explore the key welfare issues for farmed turkeys and offer some tasty plant-based alternatives.
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A huge 240 million turkeys are produced for meat each year in the EU and over 90% of these are kept in intensive indoor systems. But what does this mean for the animals themselves?
On factory farms, the basics of animal welfare are compromised, leading to turkeys living a short life that is full of mental and physical suffering. But what are the key welfare issues for factory-farmed turkeys, and what do organic and free-range conditions look like?
Are Turkeys wild animals?
Despite being decimated by hunting in the early 20th century, wild turkey populations in the US are now recovering and they are found across North America and into Canada.
Domesticated turkeys, like their wild counterparts, have strong individual personalities. In their natural habitat they enjoy scouring woodlands for food. They keep themselves clean by preening and dustbathing and at night they fly up to the trees to roost and escape predators.
Overcrowding
Sadly, intensive factory farming takes away all opportunities for turkeys to practise natural behaviours. In the UK, turkeys are kept in enclosed barns in groups of up to 25,000 birds and have no outdoor access. The barns are usually windowless and barren, with nothing but food and water stations and litter for bedding on the floor.
Overcrowding and boredom can also lead to aggression, feather-pecking and cannibalism. In an effort to solve this problem the lighting is artificial and kept low to discourage activity. This also causes them to eat more food, and grow fast. The darkness can cause eye abnormalities and even blindness.
Another consequence of overcrowding is the amount of waste. Within these packed barns, ammonia released into the air can cause birds to suffer respiratory problems, painful foot pad lesions and breast blisters.
Beak Trimming
In their natural environment, like many animals, turkeys keep themselves busy with foraging and will fight for a mate and territory. But this foraging behaviour and aggression is intensified by life on factory farms.
To prevent damage to other birds, when turkeys are just one day old, the end of their sensitive, nerve-filled beak is cut off using a red-hot blade or an infrared laser. This procedure is performed without anaesthetic. After beak trimming, these birds have been observed to show signs of behaviour associated with depression and long-term chronic pain.
Sadly, the industry would rather force turkeys to fit the systems they are raised in, rather than adapting the systems to improve the welfare of these birds.
Lameness and severe health issues
Modern day turkeys are bred to meet growing customer demand for greater amounts of breast meat. The average weight of a wild male turkey is around 7.5kg and the weight of an intensively-reared turkey can reach 25kg - over three times the natural size.
This selective breeding has led to common and severe health issues for factory farmed turkeys, including painful hips and heart failure. Increased weight gain has also limited their natural behaviours, including their ability to reproduce naturally. Female turkeys are at high risk of injury from mating when the males are so large, so breeding is carried out using artificial insemination.
Overcrowding in barns also increases the risk of disease like avian flu. An outbreak in the UK in 2007 devastated the turkey farming industry and is a stark warning of the risks of intensive farming, for animals and for our own health.
Huge number of turkeys crowded together in a dirty barn
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Organic farming and free-range turkey farming
Free-range and organic farming systems exist, but only currently make up around a tenth of the market. So how do these compare to factory farming systems?
Legislation for free-range turkeys requires the birds to have continuous daytime access to at least 4m2 of range per bird for at least half their life. Access to daylight and fresh air is vital for maintaining good eye and respiratory health. Turkeys are also able to exhibit their natural behaviours in the outdoors, resulting in stronger, healthier legs and less frustration.
For a farm to be classed as organic it needs to meet specific requirements of an organic certification body. The Soil Association is the leading organic certification in the UK. Under Soil Association organic standards, the maximum flock size allowed is no more than 1000 turkeys. They must have continuous daytime access to an outdoor range covered in suitable trees and shrubs. Beak trimming is also strictly prohibited under Soil Association standards as it prevents turkeys from foraging.
The current EU legislation on free-range farming gives no maximum figure for how many birds can be housed together, it only informs how much space they should have to roam outdoors. Even then, the requirement for them to spend ‘at least half of their life outdoors’ is vague and open to interpretation.
In most higher-welfare systems, slower-growing turkey breeds are used, which have stronger bones and are better able to cope with moving around naturally. While organic and free-range systems have higher welfare potential, there are still issues with organic and free-range systems that can impact the welfare of turkeys raised for food, especially surrounding transport and slaughter.
Transport and slaughter
Turkey welfare is at very high risk during transport and slaughter. The size and weight of the birds makes handling challenging during catching, transport and handling at slaughter. Turkeys endure broken bones, dislocations and bruising.
Turkeys are hung upside down by their legs at the slaughterhouse which is a major cause of suffering, and UK law allows them to be left for up to 3 minutes in this painful position. They are then moved to an electrical water bath to be stunned, which is not an especially effective method; Distressed flapping can mean that turkeys suffer painful electrocutions before their heads reach the water.
How many turkeys get killed for Christmas?
In the UK around 10 million turkeys are killed for the Christmas season. The equivalent of over a quarter of a million of them are thrown away as food waste.
Read Benjamin Zephania’s wonderful poem about being nice to turkeys at Christmas!
Alternatives
While higher welfare standards are an immense improvement, the best thing we can do is leave turkeys off our plates.The good news is UK supermarkets now sell a wide range of tasty plant-based alternatives to turkey, whether it be for Christmas or a quick lunch.