Turkey welfare is particularly visible around holidays but involves year-round suffering for the hundreds of millions of birds raised annually in commercial systems.
Commercial turkeys experience the most extreme welfare compromise from genetic selection of any farmed species. Their bodies grow so rapidly that cardiovascular collapse, leg disorders, and respiratory problems are normalized aspects of production. The inability to breed naturally is both a welfare concern — involving repeated artificial insemination procedures — and an indicator of how far commercial genetics have departed from biological functionality. Holiday demand concentration means billions of turkeys are raised in peak conditions preceding fall processing. Heritage breeds demonstrate that turkeys with functional bodies and natural behavior are viable alternatives, though at significantly higher cost.