The majority of broiler chickens are stunned in electrical water baths before slaughter. This method has significant welfare limitations that are driving adoption of alternative stunning systems.
Electrical water bath stunning has significant welfare limitations. Shackling conscious birds upside down causes fear, pain from dislocated joints, and distress. Birds that miss the stunner — estimated at 0.5-1% in some systems — enter scalding tanks alive. Even birds that are stunned may not be insensible for the full period before neck cutting. Controlled atmosphere killing (CAK) using low-oxygen or inert gas systems eliminates live shackling entirely and produces insensibility before handling stress occurs. The welfare case for CAS transition is compelling, and the technology is available. Consumer and corporate pressure has begun shifting major poultry processors toward CAS adoption.