The welfare impacts of commercial catching and loading of broiler chickens for slaughter, and the technology and training improvements reducing injuries.
Catching and loading represents a concentrated welfare crisis compressed into the final hours of broiler life. The rapid capture of many birds by workers under time pressure leads to rough handling, inversion holding that dislocates joints, and transport container overcrowding that causes further injury. Welfare science has developed practical solutions — dimmed lighting before catching, mechanical assistance, single-bird carrying — that reduce injury rates and distress. Implementation requires training investment, appropriate equipment, and audit systems that hold catching crews accountable for welfare outcomes as measured by post-mortem bruising surveys.