The catching and loading of broiler chickens for transport to slaughter is a high-risk welfare event causing significant injury and distress for billions of birds.
Catching and loading is the final acute welfare event in the life of a broiler chicken and concentrates enormous welfare risk into a brief period. Manual catching by legs causes fractures and dislocations in already compromised birds with skeletal problems from rapid growth. The darkness and speed of catching operations reduce but do not eliminate stress responses. Transport crate density in hot weather causes heat stress and death. The combination of feed withdrawal, physical injury, and thermal stress during transport creates a cascade of welfare insults before slaughter. Welfare-focused catching teams, mechanical alternatives, and careful loading density management reduce but cannot eliminate these risks.