All animals raised for food are excluded from the Animal Welfare Act. All poultry animals are excluded from the Humane Slaughter Act. Massive animal factories produce nearly all turkey raised for human consumption. Thousands of turkeys are crammed together in a single shed with less than three square feet of space each. The excessive manure causes respiratory illness and ammonia burn to the bird's eyes, which sometimes leads to blindness.
Manure fumes and rotting carcasses cause poultry workers to wear gas masks.
To reduce fighting injuries caused by overcrowding, the tips of the birds beaks are sliced off using hot blades, and without the use of anesthesia. Some of the birds cannot eat after the debeaking and starve. Turkey's toes are amputated without anesthetic. Environment Animal agriculture, including turkey farming is destructive to the environment. Factory farms produce 2.7 trillion pounds of animal waste per year.