Commercial turkeys are “bred to suffer.”

[RiverLover]

It’s impossible to overstate what the modern, commercial turkey, or what’s affectionately known as the broad-breasted white, means for Thanksgiving. At least, for Thanksgiving the way we’re used to it. We wouldn’t be able to put a turkey on 88 percent of Americans’ Thanksgiving tables without it. But along the way, we’ve traded in a lot — too much, perhaps, to the point where turkey no longer deserves its place at the center of what’s supposed to be the year’s most mindful feast.

Perhaps the most commonly cited curiosity about modern turkeys is that they’re so disproportionately large, with 80 percent of their weight concentrated in their breast, that they’re no longer able to mate. The birds are so far removed from the (albeit ill-defined) ideal of “natural” that they’re only able to breed through artificial insemination. Forget flying; as a consequence of their disproportionate size, many can barely walk, or even stand upright. In the words of Suzanne McMillan, a poultry expert with the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA), commercial turkeys are “bred to suffer.”

http://www.salon.com/2014/11/27/stop_eating_thanksgiving_turkey_why_its_time_to_give_up_this_big_fat_holiday_travesty/

So sad.

[lumberjack_jeff]

1. ..

http://m.

[RiverLover]

3. ROFL You're right! It'd even funnier if my real name was Jennifer.

That was truly funny. Thanks for posting.

[ScreamingMeemie]

14. I am crying...

[Warpy]

2. There was a PBS nature special on last night about Turkey Man

who is someone in the south who raised wild turkeys from hatchlings to adulthood. The wild birds are brown and beautiful, with feather patterns ideally suited to blending into the environment. Instead of being dumb, they're quite intelligent birds and he was in the beginning of deciphering their very specific calls as a language when they got old enough to take to the trees and become independent wild turkeys. In the wild, they're utterly fascinating birds who imprinted on the man who raised them and were very affectionate with him, one of them turning into a lap bird. On his part, he was keenly observant of both habits and calls.

Keep your eye out for this special. You won't believe these are the same birds that have been perverted into a subspecies that wouldn't survive one generation without us because they are completely unfit to live.

You'll never think about a turkey dinner in quite the same way.

ETA: HOORAY! Found it! Watch it while you can. http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/my-life-as-a-turkey-full-episode/7378/

[RiverLover]

4. Thanks Warpy! I've started watching it now. It's already very touching. ~nt

[csziggy]

5. The book on which this documentary was based is great, too

"Illumination in the Flatwoods: A Season With The Wild Turkey" by Joe Hutto.
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/review-of-illumination-in-the-flatwoods-128684565/?no-ist

The book is a nice read, very enjoyable and informative.

The documentary is really a re-creation. Joe Hutto's experiences were several years earlier and in the pine forests of the Florida Panhandle. The documentary was filmed in Central Florida and Hutto's part was played by "the backwoods savvy actor, Jeff Palmer" who re-created Hutto's experience by imprinting the poults and living with the young turkeys.
More: http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/my-life-as-a-turkey-qa-with-naturalist-joe-hutto/7389/

Joe Hutto also lived with deer to study them and wrote a book about that experience in "Touching the Wild: Living with the Mule Deer of Deadman Gulch." I haven't read that one or "The Light In High Places: A Naturalist Looks at Wyoming Wilderness--Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep, Cowboys, and Other Rare Species" - I'll have to watch for them!

[Warpy]

6. I'll have to read the turkey book, at least

Thanks for the additional information. As a recreation, it was still stellar.

[csziggy]

7. The PBS interview with Hutto tells a lot about the recreation

The link after the information on the actor has that interview. They took an entire year to make the documentary - and it is amazing!

I had read the book and when I saw the documentary I did not realize it was not Hutto with the original turkeys - until I read his interview.

[ReRe]

10. I've seen it, on PBS...

... great documentary. I highly recommend it too. Thanks for including the link so others can watch!

[Odin2005]

12. Wild turkeys are hilarious.

They will even fly (very awkwardly) up into trees!

[RiverLover]

13. That was FANTASTIC, Warpy!!!!

Thank you SO much for sharing it. It was beautiful, everything about it.

If I hadn't gone vegetarian this past summer after watching Food Inc, this would have done it for sure.

[Triana]

8. True. . . .

Up until the the 1950s, turkeys found on Thanksgiving tables were essentially the same as their wild counterparts. But then, says McMillan, American poultry operations began to expand to meet Americans' growing demand for meat. Turkey farmers began to selectively breed birds for both size and speed of growth—especially in the breast, the most popular cut among American diners. The birds grew so fast that their frames could not support their weight, and as a result, many turkeys were bowlegged and could no longer stand upright. The male turkeys, or toms, got so big—as heavy as 50 pounds—that they could no longer manage to transfer semen to hens. Today, reproduction happens almost exclusively through artificial insemination.

At around the same time, producers also began moving their operations indoors, where they could fit more birds and ensure that they developed uniformly, so turkeys' feeding and care did not have to be individualized. In these close quarters, birds began to develop infections, like sores on their breasts and foot pads. To prevent these problems, and also to encourage growth, producers added low doses of antibiotics to the birds' feed. Also because of space limitations, birds became aggressive and often resorted to cannibalism. In response, hatcheries began trimming birds' beaks—known as debeaking—when they were a few days old.

If all of this makes turkey sound unappetizing, consider the latest development: As of October 20, turkey slaughter facilities were allowed to speed up their lines from 51 to 55 birds per minute—while also reducing the number of federal inspectors, as my colleague Tom Philpott has reported.

THE REST:

http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2014/11/turkey-bigger-thanksgiving-butterball-antibiotics

[flvegan]

9. Thanks for posting. Sadly

this will (largely) fall on overfed and deaf ears that couldn't care less. I await the exclamations of how suffering tastes good and the intellectually devoid "BACON!" responses.

"Liberals" can be selfish too. Though they will shake many a fist at easy targets of global-warming, they'll enjoy that mirror that doesn't show things like that.

It's not convenient, so...

[ReRe]

11. This is called...

... capitalization, boys and girls. Just another story that doesn't end well.

[MoonRiver]

15. Makes me sick.

I hope those turkey breeders and other animal torturers get to experience the pain they have inflicted during their "life review."

[War Horse]

16. Like chickens, in other words

No great surprise.

[Major Nikon]

17. Not all commercial turkeys

This is what I bought this year. Not as much breast meat and not as big, but much tastier than the alternative.