Poultry slaughter involves welfare challenges at scale that dwarf any other farm animal species — improving stunning methods and handling is a high-impact welfare priority.
Poultry slaughter represents the largest welfare challenge at the point of death for any farm animal species, simply due to the extraordinary numbers involved. Any improvement in stunning reliability or handling quality at the point of slaughter affects welfare outcomes for tens of billions of animals annually. Controlled atmosphere stunning, which exposes birds to inert gas or CO2 before shackling, eliminates the period of conscious distress during shackling while achieving reliable pre-slaughter stunning. Its adoption rate is growing but remains below 50% globally. Pre-slaughter handling — catching, transport to slaughter, lairage, and shackling — are consistently identified as high-stress events requiring welfare-focused management. Consumer and retailer pressure for higher slaughter welfare standards is a key driver of industry change.