VegSocUK Information Sheet THE VEGETARIAN SOCIETY ___________________________________ TURKEYS Turkeys are intensively reared for their meat. Traditionally, turkeys were mainly reared for the Christmas market but today they are produced throughout the year. Nearly 35 million turkeys were slaughtered in the UK in 1992, about 16 1/2 million of which are for Christmas. Given the opportunity, turkeys will range widely eating vegetation, seeds and grains. Wild turkeys can fly strongly and roost high in trees. They are more closely related to game birds such as pheasants and partridges than to chickens. TURKEY PRODUCTION Turkeys are generally kept either in large, windowless broiler sheds or in pole barns which are netted on one side and have natural light and ventilation. A small number of turkeys are produced free-range. Broiler sheds contain flocks of around 10 000 birds housed on litter (usually wood shavings). Stocking density is high at around 260 cm2 per kg of bird and as the birds grow and approach slaughter age they become increasingly tightly packed. The litter is not changed during the turkeys time in the shed and so becomes increasingly covered in the birds faeces. Turkeys do not scratch around in the litter in the way that chickens will and this means the condition of the litter deteriorates more quickly. Artificial lighting and ventilation is carefully controlled. Lighting intensity is low to minimise aggression between birds. Turkeys reared in pole barns are less densely stocked, stocking density being recommended as around 410cm2 per kg of bird. Natural lighting combined with a large flock size and overcrowding encourages aggression and cannibalism and this can result in considerable losses. Because of this debeaking is widely regarded as essential and it is likely that all turkeys reared in pole barns are debeaked. Pole barns are often not purpose built for rearing birds and bad ventilation, draughts, exposure and heat stress can all cause problems. Turkeys are slaughtered at between 12 and 26 weeks, depending on the size of bird being produced. The natural lifespan of a turkey is around 10 years. WELFARE AND DISEASE Estimates for the numbers of turkeys which suffer debeaking vary between 20% and 80% and it is likely that the true figure lies somewhere between these. Debeaking is more common for turkeys kept in pole barns than those reared in broiler sheds where aggression can be minimised by dim lighting. Debeaking involves slicing off about one-third of the beak with a red hot blade when the turkey is around five days old (breeders may be debeaked again at 14 to 18 weeks). This can be extremely painful for the bird and studies on debeaked chickens have shown pain to be prolonged and perhaps indefinate. Even following debeaking intensively stocked turkeys may peck at one another. Eye injuries are a particular problem and can lead to infection and blindness. Male turkeys may sometimes also be desnooded soon after hatching. The snood is the part of the turkey's wattle arising from the forehead and lying over the upper beak. Desnooding may occur to reduce the risk of cannibalism in intensively stocked turkeys. Selective breeding for rapid weight gain and the use of high nutrient feed has meant that many turkeys, especially males, are unable to support their own weight. This can lead to problems of lameness and infections of leg and hip joints. Lameness may also be the result of foot ulceration caused by turkeys having to stand on wet, dirty litter. Other common diseases affecting intensively reared turkeys include colisepticaemia, blackhead (which damages the liver), turkey rhinotracheitis (TRT) and pasteurella infection which causes a commonly fatal respiratory disease. Turkeys are also often infected with salmonella which has implications for public health. Mortality for turkeys is estimated at 7% or nearly 2 1/2 million birds. Many of these deaths are young birds unable to find feed and water points. These are called starve-outs. TRANSPORT AND SLAUGHTER The catching and transport of turkeys prior to slaughter can cause the birds considerable distress. Turkeys are considerably larger and stronger than chickens and can be nervous and easily frightened. Catchers are often less familiar with handling turkeys and many birds may be injured whilst being removed from sheds or barns and thrust into crates. Poor handling frequently results in bruising, skin grazing and broken blood vessels. Transport to slaughter may be some distance and the birds may be exposed to extreme weather conditions. On reaching the slaughterhouse, turkeys are removed from their crates and hung upside down in shackles on a moving line. Turkeys may legally hang shackled for up to six minutes before being stunned and this time is probably frequently exceeded. Turkeys can weigh anything from 5 to 28 kg (12 to 60 lbs) at slaughter and the pain caused to heavy birds whilst they hang in shackles must be considerable. This pain will be worsened by the fact that many of the birds and especially the larger ones will suffer from diseased hip joints. Stunning involves the birds having their head and neck dragged through an electrically charged water bath. A study by the Agriculture & Food Research Council (AFRC) Institute of Food Research in Bristol found an incidence of 26% of pre-stun shocks which occurred when either birds wings trailed in the water bath before their heads or the ramp leading to the water bath became electrically charged. Some birds may be stunned using hand-held stunners instead. These may be used in smaller slaughterhouses which specialise in Traditional Farm Fresh turkeys for the Christmas market (turkeys hung for up to 15 days without evisceration following slaughter). These stunners are less likely to induce cardiac arrest and so birds may be fully conscious when their necks are cut. Following stunning, the birds have their throats cut before entering a scalding tank which loosens the feathers for plucking. The AFRC study found that 0.1% of birds were still alive on entering the scalding tank. This means around 35 000 turkeys enter the scalding tank alive each year. BREEDING STOCK Turkeys reared for meat are hatched from eggs laid by special breeding stock. Male breeders (called stags) have been selectively bred for size and are now too broad-breasted and heavy to mate naturally. Because of this turkey breeding is dependent on artificial insemination (AI). AI also means that turkeys can be reliably produced in the right numbers when required. Breeding stock are kept in single sex pens. Males are kept in flocks of 30-50 birds at a stocking density of 1m2 per bird. Hens are kept in larger flocks at a density of 345 cm per kg of bird. AI completely frustrates the natural mating instincts of turkeys and is distressing for both males and hens. Male turkeys are milked of semen at least once a week and the hens inseminated using a length of tubing inserted into the birds vagina. Once the birds are past their peak of semen or egg production they are slaughtered and made into pies, pates and other processed foods. Because of their large size lameness is a considerable problem in male breeding turkeys. Lameness often involves disease of the hip joints, called antitrochanteric degeneration. Studies have shown over 90% of male breeding turkeys suffering degenerative hip disease at slaughter and it is a major cause of mortality, lame turkeys often having to be culled. ___________________________________ // This article is copyright to the Vegetarian Society (UK), but may be freely copied for non-commercial use provided it is kept intact, not altered and these lines are included. For futher information contact: The Vegetarian Society, Parkdale, Dunham Road, Altrincham, Cheshire WA14 4QG, England. Tel: (England) 061 928 0793 email: vegsoc@vegsoc.demon.co.uk // [The text of this file was obtained from the Vegetarian Society (UK) in March 1995.]