Poultry

Poultry Transport Welfare: Catching, Crating, and Delivery

The transport of poultry to slaughter is one of the most welfare-significant events in the lives of billions of birds.

Key Facts

An estimated 9 billion chickens are transported to slaughter annually in the US
Catching crews manually grab chickens by their legs, causing wing and bone fractures
Temperature extremes during transport cause hypothermia and heat stroke deaths
Chickens are transported in crates for up to 12 hours without food or water
Dead-on-arrival rates at slaughter plants average 0.3%, representing millions of birds

Welfare Considerations

Mechanical catching machines and manual catching both cause wing dislocations, leg fractures, and hemorrhages in significant percentages of birds. Open crates in winter cause hypothermia; summer transport causes heat stroke. Birds that arrive dead-on-arrival died in transport from exhaustion, hyperthermia, or trauma. The welfare harms of transport are compressed into 12-18 hours but are severe for billions of animals annually.

What You Can Do

Support mandatory mechanical catching equipment requirements to reduce injury
Advocate for temperature controls on poultry transport vehicles
Choose poultry from farms that minimize transport distance to slaughter
Support the EU 8-hour maximum transport limit model in your country
Donate to organizations monitoring and documenting poultry transport welfare