Commercial turkeys are raised in large indoor flocks under conditions that present significant welfare challenges including health problems associated with rapid growth and restricted movement.
Rapid growth creates chronic lameness, joint pain, and difficulty accessing food and water in a proportion of birds. Heat stress is common in large flocks in poorly ventilated sheds. Feather pecking and aggression emerge when birds lack environmental complexity. Beak trimming is practiced to reduce pecking injuries but causes acute pain and potentially chronic neuropathic pain in the trimmed tissue.