The catching and loading of poultry for transport to slaughter is a significant welfare event affecting millions of birds, with opportunities for improvement in technique and technology.
Poultry catching represents a brief but intense welfare event at the end of a bird lifetime. Manual catching by multiple legs and wing grasping causes bruising and fractures. Catching and crating densities that exceed birds ability to stand upright cause compression injuries. Inversion by a single leg causes pain and predisposes to dislocation. The development of mechanical harvesting technology has improved welfare in some large operations, but manual catching remains the standard in smaller flocks. Training catchers in bird-friendly handling technique and using best-practice catching methods including catching by the body reduces injury rates. Welfare monitoring of live birds delivered to abattoir is an important quality check.