Read About Turkey Breeders

Turkey birds started roaming around North America well before Europeans came to the country. As the turkey bird's flavor grew in popularity, turkey breeders open up shop hoping to make a few bucks off of the birds.

Keeping turkey birds

Turkey breeders usually have many many turkey birds. From a fiscal standpoint it would be a waste of their time to raise and then sell just a few turkey birds. Turkey breeders keep turkeys in one of two ways. The less common way to keep turkeys is on a free range farm. This means that the birds are allowed to roam around and are not kept in a pen. These turkeys are sold at health food markets and are marketed toward health conscious eaters.

Turkey breeders that do not raise free range turkey birds keep their birds in pens. Many times the pens are windowless and are covered with netting to allow the bird to breath and see some light. The birds are supposed to be placed in pens that are large enough to hold the quantity of birds that are in the cages. A good turkey breeder makes sure the birds are well fed and that their litter is frequently changed.

Turkey breeders also make sure that the birds aren't exposed to too much light because when turkeys are exposed to light, they will fight.

Problems with turkey breeders

Turkey breeders have gotten a lot of bad press over the years. Free range turkey breeders have escaped the scrutiny, but turkey breeders who use cages have been subject to a lot of criticism.

Turkey breeder critics have accused turkey breeders of keeping their turkeys in inhumane conditions in order to maximize their turkey profits. Accusations include putting too many turkeys in one pen so they can't move as freely or have good access to oxygen and water. Some people even claim that putting too many birds in one cage causes cannibalism among the birds.

Turkey breeders have also been accused of not changing the litter frequently enough, leaving the birds to sit in their own feces. Obviously this causes disease and is not healthy. One other criticism that definitely does not hold true for all turkey breeders is the breeder removes the bird's beak so it can't peck other birds. Many find this to be a cruel practice.

Getting to your table

Turkey breeders raise the birds for about 12 to 26 weeks and then they send them to the slaughterhouse. Once the bird is slaughtered, it plucked, packaged and sent to your grocer. At this point the turkey breeders are no longer involved in the process.