Commercial turkeys have been selectively bred for such rapid muscle growth that many suffer from cardiovascular disease, leg weakness, and inability to mate naturally, making them one of the most welfare-compromised farmed birds.
The welfare crisis in commercial turkeys is built into their genetics. Selecting exclusively for breast muscle yield has created birds whose cardiovascular system and skeletal structure cannot support their own body weight for extended periods. Lame turkeys spend more time lying in litter, develop secondary skin lesions, and have impaired access to feeders and drinkers. Heart failure deaths represent individual acute welfare events multiplied across millions of birds annually. The inability to mate naturally means turkeys cannot express a fundamental reproductive behaviour. Transitioning to slower-growing breeds resolves most metabolic welfare problems but requires industry-wide willingness to accept lower growth rates.