The final journey for chickens from farm to slaughterhouse is one of the least regulated and most welfare-critical moments in broiler production. Improving transport conditions is achievable.
The catching, crating, and transport of broiler chickens to slaughter involves acute welfare harms that affect every individual in the production system. Hand catching by workers grabbing multiple birds by the legs causes bone fractures and joint dislocations in a proportion of birds. Open truck transport exposes birds to wind, rain, and temperature extremes. During hot weather, birds in center stacks overheat and die. Despite the scale of this welfare harm, transport welfare for chickens receives less policy attention than farmed conditions.