The pre-slaughter period — from catching through transport to lairage — imposes significant welfare costs on poultry that can be substantially reduced through management improvements.
Pre-slaughter welfare encompasses a sequence of events — catching, loading, transport, and lairage — each of which imposes welfare costs that compound as birds experience increasing stress and deprivation. Water deprivation during pre-slaughter feed withdrawal, temperature extremes during transport, and mechanical stress from catching and loading all contribute to the welfare burden. Slaughter method is only the final step in a longer welfare sequence. Controlled atmosphere slaughter systems with optimised gas compositions reduce pre-slaughter handling stress by eliminating the need for live shackling before stunning. Investment in pre-slaughter welfare improvement addresses the welfare cost across the entire pre-mortem period rather than only the moment of killing.