The lairage period before slaughter is a high-risk welfare window for cattle that requires active management.
The lairage period concentrates multiple welfare stressors: exhaustion from transport, novel environment, unfamiliar conspecifics, and the eventual slaughter process. Welfare-conscious lairage management separates animals transported together, provides adequate rest, and minimises negative handling interactions. The alignment between animal welfare and meat quality in lairage — high pre-slaughter stress hormones produce dark, firm, dry meat — provides economic incentive for good welfare that is underexploited. Training lairage staff in low-stress handling techniques is highly cost-effective.