The catching and loading of turkeys for transport to slaughter is a high-risk welfare period involving significant handling stress, injury and sometimes mortality.
Turkey catching causes acute welfare harm through rough handling, fear responses and physical injury. The large size and weight of commercial turkeys makes manual catching physically demanding for workers and stressful for birds. Heart failure during catching reflects the extreme physical stress of the process, particularly in birds with cardiovascular compromise from rapid growth. Welfare-centred catching operations use dim lighting, trained teams, appropriate catching density, and regular monitoring of injury rates and dead-on-arrival statistics as welfare indicators.