Turkey - Game
Turkeys are classed as Game, due to their fan shaped tails and their wattled neck. They have an impressive wingspan of up to 1.8 metres. The males are known as Toms or in Europe as a Stag, the females as Hens and the juveniles are known as poult.
Like most bird species the female is smaller and a lot plainer than the male.
Despite the name, Turkeys have no link whatsoever to the Island Turkey, they are natives of North America. The great majority of domestic turkeys have white feathers although brown and bronze feathers inherited from their ancestors may occur.
The average lifespan of a Turkey is 10 years.
A Turkey is for life... Not just for christmas!
Isn't it ironic that Christmas and Thanksgiving is the season of good will? It's the season to give, to share, to love. And that's what we feel for our family on this special occasion. While we all sit around the table laughing carelessly and tucking into one of the 18 million Turkeys that were slaughtered for Christmas in the UK alone last year. Worldwide, and the total of the year, approximately 40 Billion.
Broiler Turkeys
Chicks, bred for meat are hatched from eggs laid by a special breeding stock. The males have been selectively bred for size and are too heavy to mate. Instead the semen is drained from the Stag and inserted into the Hen using a length of tubing. This is known as AI (Artificial insemination)
Most Turkeys are kept and slaughtered the same as Chickens, in Broiler Sheds. The broiler sheds house around 10,000 Turkeys giving them each 260cm2 of space per KG. As the Turkey grows, conditions become cramped, hot and distressing.
Broiler turkeys are usually slaughtered between 12 to 27 weeks, depending on their size. They spend the last few weeks of their lives in dim artificial lighting (sometimes pitch black to prepare them in case there is a power cut). They become distressed and there is no doubt that they are in pain. The more they grow, the worse the conditions become. They can very rarely support their own weight.
The Turkeys will compete for food and water as there is so many birds, it is usually hard to reach. The ones that are too crippled to move die, either of starvation, dehydration, being trampled or pecked to death.
Pole Barn Turkeys
A pole barn is similar to a broiler shed, although one side is netted allowing natural light and ventilation in. Pole barn turkeys have slightly more space to themselves. However, the natural lighting and cramped conditions causes aggression between the birds and sometimes cannibalism resulting in the turkeys having their sensitive beaks cut which causes trauma and stress.
Pole barn Turkeys are exposed to all weather conditions, be it blistering cold or intense heat, they can't get away.
When the birds are ready for slaughter, they are thrown into crates and loaded onto trucks, skin grazing and broken blood vessels are a common occurance in this part of the process. The lorries are then driven through all weathers, sometimes considerable distances in the blistering cold or sweltering heat.
Once there, the turkeys are placed upside down and clipped into shackles on a conveyor belt. The law states that they can remain upside for up to 6 minutes. The turkeys can weigh between 12 and 60lbs, hanging upside down must cause considerable amount of pain, especially to the birds that have dislocated or even broken bones.
CAUTION: TRUTHFUL PICTURES BELOW
The turkeys heads are dragged through water with an electrical charge running through it, this supposedly stuns them, that is, if the turkey doesn't move its head like it does in so many cases. It has also been reported that in several cases, the turkeys wings will drag in the water first. Smaller slaughter houses use a handheld stunner. These stunners are smaller so are unlikely to cause a cardiac arrest, meaning the turkeys may be fully conscious when they have their throats cut. The conveyor belt continues its journey taken the birds towards and automatic neck cutting machine. The turkeys that are still conscious will once again move their heads as a natural reaction for something coming towards it.
Next they are taken to the scalding tank where they are plunged into water so hot it loosens the feathers ready for plucking. 35,000 turkeys enter the scalding tank alive and fully conscious every year. The turkeys are then plucked, unrequired bits hacked off, packaged up and distributed to your local supermarket.
STOP PRETENDING THAT THIS IS NOT HAPPENING!
It is not too late to start saving lives.
Any questions or comments?
Drop me an email on helpsavelives@tiscali.co.uk