The intensive production of turkeys for Christmas involves welfare compromises across the entire lifecycle, from genetic selection to cramped housing and painful husbandry procedures.
Commercial turkeys carry a disproportionate welfare burden from their genetics: excessive breast muscle creates cardiovascular strain, lameness, and difficulty with thermoregulation. Birds spend much of their brief lives unable to walk normally. Housing thousands of turkeys together in barren sheds prevents natural social structure and foraging. The welfare problems are structural — built into the breed — meaning improvements require fundamental change in consumer demand for alternative breeds.