While male turkeys (toms) receive most welfare attention due to their extreme selective breeding, female turkeys (hens) raised for meat also face significant welfare challenges that are less frequently discussed.
Turkey hens face a distinctive combination of welfare challenges: faster-than-natural growth, barren indoor environments, and commercial stocking densities that restrict natural behaviour. Foot pad lesions are among the most pervasive and welfare-significant problems — painful contact lesions from sitting on wet litter cause chronic discomfort and lameness. Heat stress in inadequately ventilated sheds causes acute suffering, particularly during hot weather. The provision of enrichment — foraging substrates, perches, and dust baths — is rarely standard in commercial turkey production despite evidence that these significantly improve welfare outcomes. Unlike laying hens, turkeys raised for meat have fewer welfare standards applied to them in many jurisdictions.