The transport of poultry to slaughter involves multiple welfare harms including cold stress, heat stress, injury, and mortality that occur in millions of birds weekly.
Transport combines catching stress, novel environment, motion, crowding, temperature extremes, and food and water deprivation. Birds that die during transport are counted as standard production loss rather than welfare failures. Feather damage and bruising from crate contact are common. Summer transport causes hyperthermia in broilers bred for high metabolic rate. Winter exposure causes hypothermia. The welfare window between farm and slaughter is significant and inadequately regulated.