Decisions about when and how to end the lives of farm animals that can no longer be profitably used represent a significant welfare challenge requiring ethical frameworks that prioritize animal welfare over economic calculation.
Farm animals that are ill, injured, or at end of productive life deserve timely, humane euthanasia as the final welfare obligation of their producers. The economic calculation that delays euthanasia — hoping animals will recover or survive long enough for transport — creates prolonged suffering that is entirely preventable. Accepting euthanasia as a welfare cost of production is an ethical obligation.