Pre-slaughter handling causes significant fear and distress in commercial turkeys. Improving catching, transport, and lairage conditions is one of the most impactful welfare interventions available.
Turkey pre-slaughter welfare is a concentrated welfare crisis for billions of birds at the end of their lives. Catching by legs causes pain from the weight of large heavy birds suspended briefly before crating. The sounds, unfamiliar handling, and confinement of transport cause fear responses in these prey-natured birds. Temperature management during transit is challenging given turkey heat sensitivity. Processing plant lairage involves additional waiting time in stressful conditions. The combination of these acute stressors in the final hours before slaughter means that the worst welfare experience of a turkey's life is concentrated into its last hours. Practical improvements include catching training that reduces fractures, temperature-controlled transport, and controlled atmosphere stunning adoption.