Commercial turkeys have been selectively bred for extreme breast muscle development, creating welfare problems analogous to those documented in broiler chickens. Understanding the welfare science informs more humane consumption and production choices.
Turkey welfare in commercial production shares key features with broiler welfare problems but receives far less public attention. The physical consequences of extreme selection for breast muscle — analogous to breeding an athlete with disproportionately large upper body musculature — include skeletal strain, cardiovascular overload, and skin contact lesions from spending large amounts of time resting on litter because locomotion is effortful. The complete loss of natural mating ability in heavy commercial breeds represents a fundamental alteration of the animal's biological integrity. Behavioural welfare is severely restricted in high-density commercial housing: turkeys cannot perform natural foraging, dust bathing, or social behaviours meaningfully in barren litter houses at commercial stocking densities. Seasonal demand peaks create pressure to accelerate production and increase throughput, potentially compromising welfare at slaughter. As with broilers, the evidence consistently shows that slower-growing breeds maintained at lower densities with enriched environments show markedly better welfare profiles across all measured indicators.