Where your Thanksgiving turkey comes from.

• Position: THE BIG PICTURE - Editorial - Brief article

During its busiest season, from August through December, this Iowa turkey farm might have up to 60,000 turkeys living on 5 acres. The birds at Gary's Gobblers are fed a mixture of corn and soybean meal. The worker in this photo is spraying an antibacterial solution into the turkey pens to prevent disease.

Some critics of large factory farms say that the turkeys often have a poor quality of life.

"The conditions that animals are raised in are unconscionable," says Gail Eisnitz of the Humane Farming Association in California. "They have no room to move, no room to breathe. They often have their beaks and feet cut off. It's cruel and inhumane."

Others, like Gwen Venable from the U.S. Poultry and Egg Association, a trade group, say these...