Turkeys are intelligent, curious birds whose welfare in intensive farming is compromised by barren environments, but simple enrichment interventions can substantially improve their wellbeing.
Turkeys in barren industrial sheds experience profound behavioral deprivation. Their natural behavioral repertoire - foraging over large areas, dust bathing, perching at night, and complex social interactions - is entirely prevented. Redirected behaviors including feather pecking emerge from this deprivation, leading to injurious attacks that require physical modification (beak trimming) rather than environmental improvement. The intelligence of turkeys - comparable to many bird species considered cognitively sophisticated - makes their confined existence a genuine welfare concern that simple enrichment can partially address.