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TURKEYS.TXT
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1995-03-13
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VegSocUK Information Sheet
THE VEGETARIAN SOCIETY
___________________________________
TURKEYS
Turkeys are intensively reared for their meat. Traditionally, turkeys were
mainly reared for the Christmas market but today they are produced throughout
the year. Nearly 35 million turkeys were slaughtered in the UK in 1992, about
16 1/2 million of which are for Christmas.
Given the opportunity, turkeys will range widely eating vegetation, seeds and
grains. Wild turkeys can fly strongly and roost high in trees. They are more
closely related to game birds such as pheasants and partridges than to
chickens.
TURKEY PRODUCTION
Turkeys are generally kept either in large, windowless broiler sheds or in
pole barns which are netted on one side and have natural light and
ventilation. A small number of turkeys are produced free-range.
Broiler sheds contain flocks of around 10 000 birds housed on litter (usually
wood shavings). Stocking density is high at around 260 cm2 per kg of bird and
as the birds grow and approach slaughter age they become increasingly tightly
packed. The litter is not changed during the turkeys time in the shed and so
becomes increasingly covered in the birds faeces. Turkeys do not scratch
around in the litter in the way that chickens will and this means the
condition of the litter deteriorates more quickly. Artificial lighting and
ventilation is carefully controlled. Lighting intensity is low to minimise
aggression between birds.
Turkeys reared in pole barns are less densely stocked, stocking density being
recommended as around 410cm2 per kg of bird. Natural lighting combined with a
large flock size and overcrowding encourages aggression and cannibalism and
this can result in considerable losses. Because of this debeaking is widely
regarded as essential and it is likely that all turkeys reared in pole barns
are debeaked.
Pole barns are often not purpose built for rearing birds and bad ventilation,
draughts, exposure and heat stress can all cause problems.
Turkeys are slaughtered at between 12 and 26 weeks, depending on the size of
bird being produced. The natural lifespan of a turkey is around 10 years.
WELFARE AND DISEASE
Estimates for the numbers of turkeys which suffer debeaking vary between 20%
and 80% and it is likely that the true figure lies somewhere between these.
Debeaking is more common for turkeys kept in pole barns than those reared in
broiler sheds where aggression can be minimised by dim lighting.
Debeaking involves slicing off about one-third of the beak with a red hot
blade when the turkey is around five days old (breeders may be debeaked again
at 14 to 18 weeks). This can be extremely painful for the bird and studies on
debeaked chickens have shown pain to be prolonged and perhaps indefinate.
Even following debeaking intensively stocked turkeys may peck at one another.
Eye injuries are a particular problem and can lead to infection and
blindness.
Male turkeys may sometimes also be desnooded soon after hatching. The snood
is the part of the turkey's wattle arising from the forehead and lying over
the upper beak. Desnooding may occur to reduce the risk of cannibalism in
intensively stocked turkeys.
Selective breeding for rapid weight gain and the use of high nutrient feed
has meant that many turkeys, especially males, are unable to support their
own weight. This can lead to problems of lameness and infections of leg and
hip joints.
Lameness may also be the result of foot ulceration caused by turkeys having
to stand on wet, dirty litter.
Other common diseases affecting intensively reared turkeys include
colisepticaemia, blackhead (which damages the liver), turkey rhinotracheitis
(TRT) and pasteurella infection which causes a commonly fatal respiratory
disease. Turkeys are also often infected with salmonella which has
implications for public health.
Mortality for turkeys is estimated at 7% or nearly 2 1/2 million birds. Many
of these deaths are young birds unable to find feed and water points. These
are called starve-outs.
TRANSPORT AND SLAUGHTER
The catching and transport of turkeys prior to slaughter can cause the birds
considerable distress. Turkeys are considerably larger and stronger than
chickens and can be nervous and easily frightened. Catchers are often less
familiar with handling turkeys and many birds may be injured whilst being
removed from sheds or barns and thrust into crates. Poor handling frequently
results in bruising, skin grazing and broken blood vessels.
Transport to slaughter may be some distance and the birds may be exposed to
extreme weather conditions.
On reaching the slaughterhouse, turkeys are removed from their crates and
hung upside down in shackles on a moving line. Turkeys may legally hang
shackled for up to six minutes before being stunned and this time is probably
frequently exceeded. Turkeys can weigh anything from 5 to 28 kg (12 to 60
lbs) at slaughter and the pain caused to heavy birds whilst they hang in
shackles must be considerable. This pain will be worsened by the fact that
many of the birds and especially the larger ones will suffer from diseased
hip joints.
Stunning involves the birds having their head and neck dragged through an
electrically charged water bath. A study by the Agriculture & Food Research
Council (AFRC) Institute of Food Research in Bristol found an incidence of
26% of pre-stun shocks which occurred when either birds wings trailed in the
water bath before their heads or the ramp leading to the water bath became
electrically charged.
Some birds may be stunned using hand-held stunners instead. These may be used
in smaller slaughterhouses which specialise in Traditional Farm Fresh turkeys
for the Christmas market (turkeys hung for up to 15 days without evisceration
following slaughter). These stunners are less likely to induce cardiac arrest
and so birds may be fully conscious when their necks are cut.
Following stunning, the birds have their throats cut before entering a
scalding tank which loosens the feathers for plucking. The AFRC study found
that 0.1% of birds were still alive on entering the scalding tank. This means
around 35 000 turkeys enter the scalding tank alive each year.
BREEDING STOCK
Turkeys reared for meat are hatched from eggs laid by special breeding stock.
Male breeders (called stags) have been selectively bred for size and are now
too broad-breasted and heavy to mate naturally. Because of this turkey
breeding is dependent on artificial insemination (AI). AI also means that
turkeys can be reliably produced in the right numbers when required.
Breeding stock are kept in single sex pens. Males are kept in flocks of 30-50
birds at a stocking density of 1m2 per bird. Hens are kept in larger flocks
at a density of 345 cm per kg of bird.
AI completely frustrates the natural mating instincts of turkeys and is
distressing for both males and hens. Male turkeys are milked of semen at
least once a week and the hens inseminated using a length of tubing inserted
into the birds vagina.
Once the birds are past their peak of semen or egg production they are
slaughtered and made into pies, pates and other processed foods.
Because of their large size lameness is a considerable problem in male
breeding turkeys. Lameness often involves disease of the hip joints, called
antitrochanteric degeneration. Studies have shown over 90% of male breeding
turkeys suffering degenerative hip disease at slaughter and it is a major
cause of mortality, lame turkeys often having to be culled.
___________________________________
//
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