This size difference makes mating practically impossible. Modern turkeys are so heavy and misshapen that they must be artificially inseminated in order to reproduce. The procedure is undertaken twice a week, and is painful and traumatic to both males and female turkeys. Essentially 100 percent of the nearly 300 million turkeys produced annually in the U.S. for consumption are the result of artificial insemination. At the slaughterhouse, the birds are pulled from the crates and dumped on a conveyor belt.
Some birds die after being crushed by machinery or vehicles operating near the unloading area.
Fully conscious birds are hung by their feet from metal shackles on a moving rail. The birds' heads are submerged in an electrified bath of water, which immobilizes them but they are commonly still conscious and capable of feeling pain. After passing through the stunning tank, the birds' throats are slashed, usually by a mechanical blade, and blood begins rushing out of their bodies. The blade misses some birds that then proceed to the scalding tank where they are submerged in scalding hot water. Birds missed by the killing blade are boiled alive.