More than 40 million turkeys are killed each year at Thanksgiving, more than 20 million are slaughtered at Christmas, and another 19 million die for Easter dinners.(8) Before ending up as holiday centerpieces, these gentle birds spend five to six months on factory farms where thousands of them are packed into dark sheds with no more than 3.5 square feet of space per bird.(9) To keep the overcrowded birds from scratching and pecking each other to death, workers cut off portions of the birds’ toes and upper beaks with hot blades and de-snood the males (the snood is the flap of skin that runs from the beak to the chest).(10) No pain relievers are used during any of these procedures.
Genetic manipulation and antibiotics enable farmers to produce heavily muscled birds who can weigh 35 pounds in as little as five months, and “their internal organs are noticeably crammed together in the little bit of space remaining for the body cavity,” according to The Washington Post.(11) An industry magazine said, “[T]urkey breeders have created birds with huge, unnatural, outsized breasts, since white breast meat is where the money is.”(12) Another turkey breeder complained that birds “are bred to grow fast just to live to 16 weeks [and then] they die,” usually from organ failure, and some suffer from broken legs because their bones are not able to support their weight.(13) A 12-year study of turkey farmers in Iowa (one of the nation’s top turkey-producing states) revealed that leg problems and aneurysms were among the top three health problems in turkey flocks.(14) Factory-farmed turkeys are so large that they cannot even perform normal reproductive behaviors, so all turkeys raised for food are the products of artificial insemination.(15)
Millions of turkeys don’t even make it past the first few weeks before succumbing to “starve-out,” a stress-induced condition that causes young birds to simply stop eating.(16) Catching and transportation are particularly stressful processes for birds, and yet they are repeatedly moved during their short lives—from hatchery to the brooding area to the growing area and finally to the slaughterhouse.(17)
At the slaughterhouse, turkeys are hung upside-down by their weak and crippled legs before their heads are dragged through an electrified “stunning tank,” which immobilizes them but does not kill them. Many birds dodge the tank and, therefore, are fully conscious when their throats are slit. If the knife fails to properly slit the birds’ throats, they are scalded alive in the tank of hot water used for feather removal.
Turkey flesh is completely devoid of fiber and carbohydrates and is loaded with even more fat and cholesterol than many cuts of beef. A turkey’s leg contains about 63 milligrams of cholesterol, and 42 percent of its calories are derived from fat.(18)
USDA inspection reports reveal that an average of one in every eight Thanksgiving turkeys is infected with salmonella, a foodborne illness that sickens more than a million people a year and kills 500.(19)
C'mon, be nice people and get a tofurkey instead. I mean, it's just nicer.
8)“Minnesota Leads Nation in Turkey Production,” Paynesville Press, 21 Nov. 2001.
9)John C. Voris et al., Turkey Care Practices, University of California, Davis, 1998.
10)Jodie Karrow and Dr. Ian Duncan, “Starve-Out in Turkey Poults,” University of Guelph, Dec. 1999.
11)Rick Weiss, “Techno Turkeys: The Modern Holiday Bird Is a Marvel of Yankee Ingenuity,” The Washington Post, 12 Nov. 1997.
12)Steve Bjerklie, “Perspective by Editor of Meat Processing North American Edition,” MeatNews.com, 2 Dec. 2003.
13)Jan Falstad, “Plucked by the Big Boys: No Fresh Turkeys From Ballentine Turkey Farm This Season,” Billings Gazette, 2 Nov. 2003.
14)William J. Owings, “Turkey Health Problems. A Summary of Twelve Years of Iowa Grower Surveys,” Iowa State University Extension, Sep. 1995.
15)Weiss.
16)University of Guelph, “Farm Animal Welfare Research,” 1998-2000.
17)Voris et al.
18)USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference, “Turkey, Young Tom, Leg, Meat and Skin, Cooked, Roasted,” Jul. 2003.
19)Todd Zwillich, “Consumer Group: 13% of U.S. Turkeys Carry Salmonella,” Reuters Health, 19 Nov. 2001.
