A New COK Investigation Uncovers Cruelty at a North Carolina Turkey Hatchery that Supplies Butterball

Video shot by hatchery employee includes scenes of chicks gasping for air as they slowly suffocate in plastic bags.

While employed at a North Carolina turkey hatchery that now supplies Butterball, a COK investigator documented the conditions forced upon newly-hatched chicks. As the investigation video shows, from the moment they’re hatched, these turkeys are submerged into a world of misery. Dumped out of metal trays and jostled onto conveyor belts after being mechanically separated from cracked egg shells, the newly-hatched turkeys are tossed around like inanimate objects—they are sorted, sexed, de-beaked, de-toed, and in some cases de-snooded before they are packed up and shipped off to a “grow out” confinement facility.

The video further reveals that not all chicks survive this harsh process. Countless chicks become mangled from the machinery, suffocated in plastic bags, or deemed “surplus” and dumped (along with injured chicks) into the same disposal system as the discarded egg shells they were separated from hours earlier.

Read about this investigation as reported in The Charlotte Observer.

The Investigation: Working Inside a Turkey Hatchery

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In June and July of 2006, a COK investigator was employed at a North Carolina turkey hatchery for nearly three weeks. While there, he witnessed and documented the misery endured by newly-hatched chicks as they began their short lives in the turkey industry. As our investigator caught on camera, many chicks never even made it out of the hatchery alive. Those who survived the rough handling of the hatchery processing were shipped off to “grow out” confinement facilities where most of them will never set foot outside.

Turkeys are typically slaughtered for food when they are just 4 to 5 months old, meaning that the birds filmed during COK’s investigation in June and July were being raised for Thanksgiving dinner tables.

The Turkey Industry

Every year in the U.S., an estimated 252 million turkeys are slaughtered for human consumption, more than 42.5 million of these birds are raised in North Carolina, making it the nation’s second largest turkey producing state (Minnesota is the first). The turkey hatchery where COK’s investigator worked for three weeks is owned by Goldsboro Milling Company, a company that recently announced its acquisition of 51% of the shares of Butterball, LLC, the industry’s most widely recognized brand name and now the nation’s largest producer of turkey products.

Read our report “Animal Suffering in the Turkey Industry” to learn more.

Taking Action

• Choose Vegetarian Foods: This holiday season, give turkeys something to be thankful for by serving a vegetarian feast instead. Try these animal-friendly holiday recipes!
• Visit TryVeg.com to learn more about vegetarian eating and order your free Vegetarian Starter Guide today!
• Send this Site to a Friend: Let your friends and family know about the suffering in the turkey industry and encourage them to choose compassion. Send them a link to this page.
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