In American factory farms, thousands of turkeys are crammed into massive, filthy and barren sheds with only a few feet of space to themselves. In such unnaturally cramped conditions, turkeys can become so desperate and terrified that they likely are to scratch and peck their neighbors to death to get more room.

Rather than simply giving the birds more space and enrichment, workers instead hack off parts of the bird’s toes and beaks as well as flaps of skin on the males, all without pain relievers.

Agribusiness companies maximize their profits by simultaneously maximizing animal suffering. By pumping turkeys full of chemicals, growth hormones and antibiotics (which humans consume when they consume turkeys) these animals, who would otherwise live as long as 10 years, are slaughtered at five to six months of age, their bodies massive and deformed through this intensive rearing process.

Writing for AlterNet, Martha Rosenberg tells us that one such drug added to turkey feed to promote unnaturally rapid growth is laced with arsenic, a demonstrated carcinogen. Rosenberg continues that massive amounts of antibiotic residues are found in turkey flesh and other ‘meats’, causing great concern for human health and fears about antibiotic-resistant germs.

Turkeys and other birds on factory farms are fed so many drugs and growth hormones, that they die piece-by-piece, their organs gradually failing, making breathing and moving difficult. Others collapse from their sheer weight, their legs so deformed or otherwise unable to hold up their bloated bodies. Unable to move, these animals are trampled or slowly starve and die.

If they survive the five to six rearing months on the factory farm, these turkeys are then grabbed by any appendage available to the factory farm worker and thrown onto tractor trailers bound for the slaughterhouse. Stacked on top of one another, these birds feel their first hint of fresh air and see their first ray of sunlight. Because turkeys and other birds are afforded no legal protections under the Animal Welfare Act, they are transported in all weather conditions and for all distances with no food or water. Already weak from the conditions on the factory farm, many do not survive the journey to the slaughterhouse.

But for those that do, once they arrive, they are again grabbed from the trucks and thrown into ankle shackles. Their weak and deformed legs hold them upside down as they are taken through an electrified tank of water meant to stun the animals, ideally rendering them unconscious.

More often than not, these birds pull themselves up or otherwise avoid this stunning tank and are fully conscious when their throats are slit and they begin to bleed out. If the birds have avoided this too, they will be fully conscious when they are lowered into the scalding water of the de-feathering tank, where they will drown.

Turkeys killed for Thanksgiving have everything that is natural denied to them. Even the most basic and simple pleasures of running, flying, mating, building nests and raising their young are hopes and desires that will never become a reality for these gentle birds destined for the man-made hell of American factory farms and slaughterhouses.

Please consider going vegetarian this holiday season. For the animals, for your health and for the environment. For more information on fabulous, flesh-free holiday recipes, visit chooseveg.com.

Mitch Goldsmith is a State News guest columnist. Reach him at goldsm40@msu.edu.