Commercial turkey farming raises significant welfare concerns from extreme growth rates causing leg and heart problems to behavioral restrictions in intensive systems, with the sector receiving far less welfare attention than chickens.
Turkey welfare suffers from many of the same growth-selection problems as broiler chickens — extreme breast muscle mass development outpaces cardiovascular and skeletal capacity, causing chronic disease in commercial breeds. Toms develop cardiac problems and difficulty walking related to their extreme growth trajectory. Breast blisters and hock burns from spending excessive time in contact with litter reflect reduced mobility driven by leg weakness. The welfare gap between commercial turkeys and their wild counterparts — who are agile, flighted, and socially complex — is enormous. Despite these documented welfare problems, turkey welfare receives far less public attention and advocacy investment than chicken welfare, creating opportunities for welfare improvement efforts in a relatively neglected sector.