Turkey ExploitationTurkey Exploitation
An Animal Exploitation Photo Journal and Gallery Presentation from All-Creatures.org

This all creatures animal exploitation photo gallery about turkeys is being presented to show the public the difference between the cute little animals we see in advertising and picture in our minds and the reality that exists in the world.

Table of Contents

Wishful Thinking

Reality

| Turkey - Hatchery | Turkey - Hatchery Sorting | Turkey - Hatchery Mutilations | Turkey - Hatchery Disposal | Turkey - Unit | Turkey - Bad Eye and Debeaked | Turkey - Cruelty | Male Turkey | Turkey - Transport | Turkey - Slaughter | Turkey - End of Life | Turkey - Free Range Myth | Turkey - Hunting |

Turkey Hatchery

Turkey Hatchery - 01
(Turkey - Hatchery - 01)  Turkey eggs from breeder farms are collected and sent to hatcheries where they are incubated in temperature-controlled rooms. In the United States more than 250 million turkeys are slaughter every year for human consumption, and as you will see in the following photos, many more die before they ever reach their slaughter age of 6 months.
Turkey Hatchery - 02
(Turkey - Hatchery - 02)  After a few weeks, eggs are transferred into metal trays where chicks will hatch. Those who hatch early are sometimes left for up to three days.
Turkey Hatchery - 03
(Turkey - Hatchery - 03)  Some chicks are manually removed from the trays and dumped into plastic containers.  There is no gentleness or compassion here!  Newly hatched turkey chicks, like these are simply dropped into the tray three feet below.  To us, such an act seems to express deliberate and sadistic cruelty.
Turkey Hatchery - 04
(Turkey - Hatchery - 04)  The rest of the chicks are kept in the trays and carted off to a machine where they will be mechanically sorted from the cracked egg shells.
Turkey Hatchery - 05
(Turkey - Hatchery - 05) Hundreds of thousands of chicks are hatched in this facility each week.
Turkey Hatchery - 06
(Turkey - Hatchery - 06) Overall, more than 252 million turkeys are raised for food in the U.S. each year.

Turkey Hatchery Sorting

Turkey Hatchery Sorting - 01
(Turkey - Hatchery Sorting - 01)  Trays of birds are pushed into a sorting machine.
Turkey Hatchery Sorting - 02
(Turkey - Hatchery Sorting - 02)  The trays are then turned upside down, and the chicks fall onto the moving sorter.
Turkey Hatchery Sorting - 03
(Turkey - Hatchery Sorting - 03)  The machine separates chicks to one side and cracked egg shells are dumped in a disposal bin.  If someone had deliberately set out to design a machine to torment and torture the living feeling souls, they could not have built a better machine.
Turkey Hatchery Sorting - 04
(Turkey - Hatchery Sorting - 04)  Some chicks are mis-sorted and end up being dumped in the disposal bin along with the egg shells.  There certainly doesn't seem to be any concern for the welfare of these turkey chicks.  They are not even considered to be living beings; to them they are nothing by "production units" to be dealt with anyway they have to in order to make the most money.
Turkey Hatchery Sorting - 05
(Turkey - Hatchery Sorting - 05)  Other chicks are tossed from the trays during processing.
Turkey Hatchery Sorting - 06
(Turkey - Hatchery Sorting - 06)  Some chicks get caught in the equipment.
Turkey Hatchery Sorting - 07
(Turkey - Hatchery Sorting - 07)  Many chicks become mangled from the machinery, and die an agonizing death.
Turkey Hatchery Sorting - 08
(Turkey - Hatchery Sorting - 08)  Our investigator thought this mangled bird was dead before realizing he was still breathing.  The horrors of animal agriculture go on and on!  And, everyone who buys their products contributes to the suffering.
Turkey Hatchery Sorting - 09
(Turkey - Hatchery Sorting - 09)  Injured chicks are often left suffering for hours, and many die from their wounds.
Turkey Hatchery Sorting - 10
(Turkey - Hatchery Sorting - 10)  Some chicks get stuck in the machinery.
Turkey Hatchery Sorting - 11
(Turkey - Hatchery Sorting - 11)  Other chicks are processed in the sorter before fully hatching from their shells.
Turkey Hatchery Sorting - 12
(Turkey - Hatchery Sorting - 12)  These chicks are known in the industry as "hatch debris.

Turkey Hatchery Mutilations

Turkey Hatchery Mutilation - 01
(Turkey - Hatchery Mutilation - 01)  Some chicks have their snoods ripped off their heads.
Turkey Hatchery Mutilation - 02
(Turkey - Hatchery Mutilation - 02)  Chicks' rear toes are sometimes cut off with scissors.
Turkey Hatchery Mutilation - 03
(Turkey - Hatchery Mutilation - 03)  This is generally done to minimize damage caused by stress-induced aggression while on the farm.  Humans cause the problem, but blame the turkeys in an effort to try to excuse the mutilations and excruciating pain they cause these babies.
Turkey Hatchery Mutilation - 04
(Turkey - Hatchery Mutilation - 04)  Chicks are roughly handled and tossed around during this process.
Turkey Hatchery Mutilation - 05
(Turkey - Hatchery Mutilation - 05)  Chicks are also hung upside down and the tips of their front three toes are exposed to microwave radiation, killing the tissue.  In essence, they are cooking the chick's toes while they are fully conscious.
Turkey - Hatchery Mutilation - 06
(Turkey - Hatchery Mutilation - 06)  After exposure, their toes turn white and the tips will eventually shrivel up and fall off.
Turkey - Hatchery Mutilation - 07
(Turkey - Hatchery Mutilation - 07)  Chicks are also hung by their heads and the tips of their beaks are exposed to high intensity infrared light.
Turkey - Hatchery Mutilation - 08
(Turkey - Hatchery Mutilation - 08)  Chicks are generally debeaked to minimize damage caused by stress-induced pecking while on the farm.  Again, the turkeys are blamed for human cruelty.
Turkey - Hatchery Mutilation - 09
(Turkey - Hatchery Mutilation - 09)  While hanging, they are spun around the machine and will be dumped into containers below.  If you wonder why we are vegans, these photos should help answer the question...We refuse to put our money in the pockets of the industries that cause these atrocities.

Turkey Hatchery Disposal

Turkey - Hatchery Disposal - 01
(Turkey - Hatchery Disposal - 01)  After birds are sorted from the shells, some are placed inside plastic bags to be later sent for testing.  And remember that these are living, breathing, and feeling beings.
Turkey - Hatchery Disposal - 02
(Turkey - Hatchery Disposal - 02)  With live birds inside, the bag is tied closed.  They do this with full knowledge that these living chicks will slowly suffocate to death.
Turkey - Hatchery Disposal - 03
(Turkey - Hatchery Disposal - 03)  Several bags of birds are collected each day chicks are hatched.
Turkey - Hatchery Disposal - 04
(Turkey - Hatchery Disposal - 04)  These birds are fully conscious, but no one in the death dealing industry cares that these chicks are struggling for a breath of fresh air.
Turkey - Hatchery Disposal - 05
(Turkey - Hatchery Disposal - 05)  The chicks gasp for air as they slowly die of suffocation.
Turkey - Hatchery Disposal - 06
(Turkey - Hatchery Disposal - 06)  Other chicks, some deemed "surplus" and some suffering from injuries, are dumped in the same disposal bin as the egg shells.  The more that human beings become detached from the disposal of any life, the more they justify the disposal of other life, even their own babies.
Turkey - Hatchery Disposal - 07
(Turkey - Hatchery Disposal - 07)  Sometimes hundreds of chicks are discarded in a single day.
Turkey - Hatchery Disposal - 08
(Turkey - Hatchery Disposal - 08)  The unwanted chicks are disposed of like trash.

Turkey Unit (Factory Farm Building)

Turkey - Unit - 05
(Turkey - Unit - 05)  These young turkeys recently have been placed in a large building of a factory farm, called a unit.  They have been raised in an incubator without any love or care from a mother.
Turkey - Unit - 06
(Turkey - Unit - 06)  At this young age, the turkeys appear to have plenty of room to move around, even if they can't go outside and enjoy God's creation.  However, this extra space will soon disappear.
Turkey - Unit - 07
(Turkey - Unit - 07)  As these turkeys continue to grow, the free space begins to disappear; for these farmers put just enough turkeys in this building so that when they are fully grown, they are packed solid.
Turkey - Unit - 08
(Turkey - Unit - 08)  Although these turkeys are still very young, the factory farm building is already quite crowded.  Think of how we would feel with this many people around us every moment of every day, and we may begin to feel what these turkeys are experiencing.
Turkey - Unit - 09
(Turkey - Unit - 09)  Up until this time, some people might say that these turkeys are being treated humanely; but intent is more telling than appearances.  We believe a more accurate description is "delayed premeditated cruelty."
Turkey - Unit - 10
(Turkey - Unit - 10)  By this time, the young turkeys are so crowded together that they can't move around without rubbing against one another.
Turkey - Unit - 1
(Turkey - Unit - 1)  There is no family or community life for these turkeys who are crowded together in such factory "units" containing as many as 25,000 birds.  There is only frustration!  Think of how we would feel in such conditions, and we might come close to the reality of what these turkeys suffer every day of their lives
Turkey - Unit - 2
(Turkey - Unit - 2)  The foreground turkeys in this photo have been illuminated by the flash on the camera.  The remainder of the crowded "unit" is in near darkness to keep the turkeys from becoming too "aggressive" which is a direct result of of these unnatural living conditions. If we lived in such conditions our frustration would most likely turn into aggression, too.  The way these turkeys are being treated is piling one evil upon another.  And every time we eat a turkey's flesh we contribute to this nightmare.
Turkey - Unit - 3
(Turkey - Unit - 3)  At least in this turkey warehouse unit there is some natural lighting, but the turkeys are allocated only three square feet of space each.  This is quite small when we consider the large size of turkeys.
Turkey - Unit - 4
(Turkey - Unit - 4)  The turkeys in this factory warehouse unit are packed together wall to wall.  From looking at this picture, it is very likely that these living, feeling, and social beings have less than three square feet of space each.  They are being deprived of their God-given right to enjoy life.

Turkey - Bad Eye and Debeaked

Turkey - Bad Eye and Debeaked
(Turkey - Bad Eye and Debeaked)  This photo shows how evil some human beings can be.  A portion of the upper beak of this turkey was cut off with a red-hot knife as a way of curbing the turkey's aggressive tendencies.  In the natural state, turkeys are never this aggressive.  Humans make the turkeys aggressive and then debeak them to stop the aggression.  Only humans can devise such evil!  Furthermore, this turkey has suffered an eye injury or disease that has gone untreated.  Think of how much it hurts when we get a little speck in our eye, and we might understand the degree of suffering that this turkey has been forced to endure day after day.  Stop this cruelty!  Stop eating turkeys!

Turkey Cruelty

Turkey - Cruelty - 1
(Turkey - Cruelty - 1)  This photo speaks for itself.  We may be humans, but most of us are not humane if we allow such conditions to exist.  Every time we eat or buy turkey flesh or by-products, we contribute to this horror.
Turkey - Cruelty - 2
(Turkey - Cruelty - 2)  Perhaps this turkey's death was a blessing, for her suffering is over, unlike the millions of other turkeys on factory farms who have to continue to suffer until they are killed in a slaughterhouse to satisfy human lust.
Turkey - Cruelty - 3
(Turkey - Cruelty - 3)  Farmed animals are considered commodities and not living and feeling beings with emotions and needs like ours.  They only consider the economics of raising them for food: it is cheaper to allow this kind of pain, suffering and eventual death for a certain percentage of turkeys, than it is to provide proper medical care.
Turkey - Cruelty - 4
(Turkey - Cruelty - 4)  The living and the dead!  Economically, a certain number are expendable!  As long as we eat turkeys, this nightmare will continue.  If these three animals were our companions, we would be terribly upset with the death of one of them; but because they are "food", we are indifferent to their death.  This is insanity!  Perhaps, we need to considered how similar a dog's hind leg feels compared to a turkey's thigh?
Turkey - Cruelty - 5
(Turkey - Cruelty - 5)  Think of how much pain we would be in if this much of our body was raw and bloody, then we should also understand how much pain this turkey is in.  To allow this is inhuman.  To do nothing about it is depraved.  To buy and eat turkeys is to contribute to this continual atrocity.

Male Turkey

Turkey - Male
(Turkey - Male)  This is a male breeding turkey.  He's not very attractive with partially removed beak and disheveled feathers; but that doesn't matter with these farmed animals, because this guy will never come in contact with a female turkey.  Instead, he is masturbated three times a week by a human farm worker to collect his sperm which is used to artificially inseminate female turkeys in a process that is really rape.  In our opinion, what humans do to these birds is an abomination before God, for in reality they are having a form of sexual relationship with the turkeys.

Turkey Transport

Turkey - Transport
(Turkey - Transport)  These are turkeys that have been "packed" into a shipping container for transport to a slaughterhouse.  At no time in their miserable lives do these turkeys have a moment's peace.  Why?  In order to satisfy the human lust for cheap flesh.

Turkey Slaughter

Turkey - Slaughter
(Turkey - Slaughter)  These turkeys have just been unloaded from the transport containers and hung upside down in shackles on their way into the slaughterhouse.  They are crying out in fear and pain as they await their own slaughter.

Turkey - End of Life

Turkey - End of Life
(Turkey - End of Life)  A turkey shackled upside down in a slaughterhouse.  They are supposed to be stunned so that they feel no pain before their throats are cut; but from what we have come to understand, this is not always the case.  More recent investigations have even come to the conclusion that only the muscles are paralyzed, leaving the turkeys fully conscious to pain.

Turkey - Free Range Myth

Turkey - Free Range Myth - 01
(Turkey - Free Range Myth - 01)  According to the United States Department of Agriculture, the single condition for the term free-range is that birds have access to the outdoors.  This does not mean that the turkeys have free access to pasture land, as can be seen in this photo.  We believe that this is a deceptive practice against the American consumer. In 2004, East Bay Animal Advocates conducted an investigative rescue at a free-range turkey farm in Northern California. The following images reveal the conditions on a free-range farm.
Turkey - Free Range Myth - 02
(Turkey - Free Range Myth - 02)  "Consumers can really be fooled," Mary Pitman, owner of Mary's Free-Range Turkeys, explains. "Some farms can qualify for free range, but they raise [turkeys] in the same conditions as industrial farms."  From what we have learned, this "fooling" of the public is more the rule of the trade than the exception.  Turkeys suffer, feel pain, and want to live just as much as we do.  So...Don't Eat Them!
Turkey - Free Range Myth - 03
(Turkey - Free Range Myth - 03)  This photograph shows the pen areas for the turkey flocks.  No turkeys are shown outside.  Note how short the shadows are.  This means that this photo was taken near mid day, when one would expect truly free range turkeys to be outside.  Be compassionate - Don't eat turkeys or other animals.
Turkey - Free Range Myth - 04
(Turkey - Free Range Myth - 04)  In this photo we have a closer look at the empty outside pen.
Turkey - Free Range Myth - 05
(Turkey - Free Range Myth - 05)  A portion of baby turkeys' beaks and toes are severed without the aid of anesthesia.  We believe that to do this to any living being is an abomination before God.  Don't support this cruelty!  Don't eat animals!
Turkey - Free Range Myth - 06
(Turkey - Free Range Myth - 06)  Within the first few weeks of life, poult (baby turkey) mortality rate is extremely high.  From our own observations, even in the wild, baby turkeys seem to have a much better survival rate.  God gave them the right to live and enjoy their lives.  Humans do not have a moral right to take that away.
Turkey - Free Range Myth - 07
(Turkey - Free Range Myth - 07)  Thousands of free-range turkeys are raised in a single warehouse-like structure (known as a grow-out shed), forced to stand on accumulated fecal waste and breathe in ammonia fumes.  When left the way God intended turkeys to be, they have a wonderful and close family life.  It is not human to deprive them of this gift from God.
Turkey - Free Range Myth - 08
(Turkey - Free Range Myth - 08)  Manure exposure and insect consumption can contribute to increased bacteria levels.  We have learned that most of these farmed animals are routinely fed antibiotics to counteract bacterial infections.  This overuse causes mutant bacterial, and potential risk to human health.
Turkey - Free Range Myth - 09
(Turkey - Free Range Myth - 09)  Like their conventionally-raised cousins, free-range turkeys are typically bred to grow at an unnaturally rapid rate, resulting in permanent health problems for birds.
Turkey - Free Range Myth - 10
(Turkey - Free Range Myth - 10)  Wild turkeys can live for nearly twenty years. However, their domesticated counterparts do not usually survive longer than two years. The turkey photographed above died at ten weeks of age.  Humans are to be the caretakers of animals and not their dominant abusers.  Don't support the cruelty!  Don't eat animals!
Turkey - Free Range Myth - 11
(Turkey - Free Range Myth - 11)  Free-range turkeys are slaughtered between 14 and 25 weeks of age.  This is only about 5% of the lifespan God gave turkeys.  In human terms, it's like killing and eating 4 year old human babies.  All live is precious.  Let us learn to respect it and preserve it to the best of our ability
Turkey - Free Range Myth - 12
(Turkey - Free Range Myth - 12)  USDA guidelines do not regulate the amount of time birds spend outdoors, which fosters a lot of abuse to the term "free range".  However, rather than trying to regulate the free range industry, why not be compassionate and stop eating our fellow creatures.
Turkey - Free Range Myth - 13
(Turkey - Free Range Myth - 13)  University of California-Davis poultry specialist, Ralph Ernst reports: "Most free-range birds are still fenced in corrals, though people like to imagine the birds are out roaming the range. They're not out exercising. These birds are raised much like the regular turkeys."  This is why we believe "free range" is a myth.
Turkey - Free Range Myth - 14
(Turkey - Free Range Myth - 14)  Many turkeys die on the way to slaughter.  The industry does not care for turkeys as living feeling animals.  They are treated as commodities that need to be handled and shipped the least expensive way.  Don't become a part of this cruelty!  Don't eat turkeys, or any other animals.
Turkey - Free Range Myth - 15
(Turkey - Free Range Myth - 15)  Dead turkeys are considered trash; an operational loss factor that is part of the expected operation.  This dumpster full of turkeys will end up in the rendering plant.
Turkey - Free Range Myth - 16
(Turkey - Free Range Myth - 16)  Turkeys are transported via multi-tiered, flat-bed trucks in overcrowded wire cages, enduring all types of weather conditions. Arriving at the slaughterhouse, the fully-conscious birds are hung by their legs and their throats are slashed. The Humane Slaughter Act and Animal Welfare Act exempt turkeys from legal protection.
Turkey - Free Range Myth - 17
(Turkey - Free Range Myth - 17)  Partial beak amputation can be performed on organic turkey flocks. Ian J.H. Duncan, a professor of Poultry Ethology at the University of Guelph in Canada, says "the idea of beak trimming being a short-lived discomfort for the bird may be far from accurate. The short and long-term changes in behavior, particularly the substantial decrease in activities involving the beak and the increase in inactivity particularly in the first week after the operation, suggests that the birds are suffering severe pain."
Turkey - Free Range Myth - 18
(Turkey - Free Range Myth - 18)  These rescued poults were victims of partial beak and toe amputation.  We don't understand how so many people who claim to believe in God can be a part of, or be indifferent to the pain and suffering that is inflicted on these birds.  If you don't want to be a part of the atrocity, don't eat animals.
Turkey - Free Range Myth - 19
(Turkey - Free Range Myth - 19)  In this photo we can see the mutilated beak and feet of this baby turkey.  Speak out against these cruel practices.  Don't eat animals!  See our cruelty free Thanksgiving and other recipes.

Turkey - Hunting

Turkey - Hunting - 01
(Turkey - Hunting - 01)  From time to time, we receive photos and comments from hunters who gloat over their killing, like this one from 24 Nov 2005.  Philip Lewer even tries to justify his love of killing from a Christian perspective: "I must say that God has designed man to hunt and had him rule over the creatures of the earth as well as ensure their liveliness. When I hunt, I thank God for giving me a fruitful harvest and I am assured that my game is pure."  This is a distorted Christian view that is straight from hell.  Which of the Beatitudes would Jesus use to bless these killers?  None, for this act is totally counter to His teachings.

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