A TURKEY'

A TURKEY'S OWN STORY

Turkeys can't speak upfor themselves, so we're putting afew words into the mouth of one of the millions reared today in the UK, to be eaten in homes, in restaurants, in schools. We think consumers should know a bit more about what happens to turkeys before they reach the shops, the restaurants and the table.

LET'S PUT A FEW QUESTIONS TO A TYPICAL INTENSIVELY-REARED TURKEY:

WHAT SORT OF LIVES DO YOU TURKEYS LEAD THESE DAYS? Most of us spend our short lives in dimly-lit windowless sheds, along with up to 25,000 other turkeys. Often we get filthy, from squatting down to rest on all the faeces. Some of us die early on (they call those "starve-outs") because we don't have mothers to show us where the food and water is. We hate the overcrowding. It makes us feel like killing each other, sometimes. That's why they keep the lights so dim, to confuse us, and quieten us down.

Above: Inside a typical intensive turkey unit. Photo: Philip Lymberry

DON'T YOU GET ILL ? Yes, often. Without antibiotics, millions of us wouldn't survive at all. We suffer from things like turkey rhinotracheitis (TRT) which makes us cough and sneeze, and then we get swollen faces, and painful sinusitis. They give us drugs for that, all right, to get us fit for slaughter. Some of us die, though, and the rest of us are so bored we peck at the dead bodies.

WHAT ABOUT GROWTH PROMOTERS ? Yes, we get these added to our food. Funny names, they have, like zinc bacitracin. Some of the ones we used to be given are now banned throughout the EU. Apparently they could be dangerous for humans. Anyway, they make us grow a bit quicker.

WE'VE HEARD OVER THIRTY MILLION OF YOU GO FOR MEAT EVERY YEAR. WHERE DO YOU ALL COME FROM? Well, that's a horrible story, actually. Because of all the selective breeding that's gone on, the chaps amongst us have become terribly heavy. Our breasts are so "meaty" we can hardly walk sometimes, and we certainly can't mate any longer. Couldn't do it. We still feel attracted to the females, but feelings alone don't help. So, they've decided on artificial insemination (AI) and it's a sordid business, 1 can tell you. It can be very painful, especially if the AI operators aren't too clever, and it's always stressful. In fact, the Ministry of Agriculture (MAFF) advises to only do it "in the cool of the day" during hot weather. 1 suppose they think the stress could kill us. And of course the birds used for breeding are quite valuable.

Left: Male breeding turkey. Photo courtesy of Academic Press Inc (London) Ltd.

WHAT ABOUT DEBEAKING ? Most of us aren't debeaked, because they can make sure we don't get too aggressive in the sheds, by dimming the lights. Or if we do feel aggressive (who wouldn't, given the overcrowding?) we can hardly see each other, so we don't do much damage. In fact , it's so dark we can only just find the food and water. The few of us that are kept in daylight are often debeaked, because we're overcrowded and can see each other clearly. Seems you can't win! Of course, the breeding females need plenty of light to encourage them to lay, so they're debeaked, as are the males. Horribly so. Our beaks! They're so important to us, and it's a painful and degrading mutilation.

HOW DO THEY TRIM THE BEAKS ? Well, it's a bit more than a trim! By law, they can remove one third of the upper part of our beaks. Often it's done with a red-hot blade. There are other methods, but this one's a popular one.

HOW DO TURKEYS GET TO SLAUGHTER ? First of all, we must be caught. Imagine the scene, in a shed holding 25,000 birds! All scared stiff and fighting for our lives! In most turkey farms teams of -catchers arrive, often at night, and just move in and grab every live bird by the legs. 'Men they ling us into crates of one kind or other, and often wings and legs get snapped. Heads even. Our legs are often painful anyway, because of our life-style (no proper exercise) and because we're just not fit. It's a terrible few hours before we reach the slaughterhouse, crammed into those crates or modules.

Above: Turkeys in transport awaiting slaughter

Right: The cruel end

AND HOW ARE YOU KILLED ? Apparently we go through a water bath charged with electricity. It's meant to knock you out for a bit, while they slit your throat, but sometimes it doesn't work, and you feel the knife. But I'm getting ahead of myself. First, of course, they hang you up in shackles-that's metal things they slot your feet into. You can imagine the fear, and then the pain. It can be excruciating, but there's nothing you can do t o help yourself. Then it's the waterbath bit. Theoretically, you're unconscious from the waterbath to the end, but I'm sorry to say that every year an awful lot of us get right to the scalding tank stage alive. I just hope not too many of us are conscious, because that' s a horrific thought. Just horrific.

YOU TALKED ABOUT THE BREEDERS, OR PARENT STOCK. HOW ARE THEY KILLED? I'm afraid they get killed in,iust the same way, because they're used for food. too. Do you know, what with selective breeding for weight, a male breeder can weigh as much as an eight-to-nine year old child! And they'll hang him up just the same. With his poor old hips that are probably diseased and painful. What an end to a life that's hardly been a bed of roses, at any stage.

WHAT CAN WE DO ABOUT THIS AWFUL ABUSE OF TURKEYS ? Well, 1 suppose you could just refuse to buy us. In the shops, 1 mean. Then it would all stop. You see, even when you find "welfare-friendly" turkeys on sale, chances are they're all the end-product of the same poor breeders I've told you about. So, 1 don't see how just having a welfare tag helps, really. Do you? I think your best plan is to eat something different!

CATTLE