Transport is one of the highest-risk welfare events for poultry. Catching, crating, loading, the journey, and lairage each present distinct welfare challenges that cause injury, thermal stress, and mortality at rates unacceptable under modern welfare standards.
Poultry transport combines multiple acute stressors in rapid succession: the trauma of catching in darkness, unfamiliar confinement with other birds, physical movement during loading, thermal extremes in transit, and prolonged waiting before slaughter. Each transition point carries injury and mortality risk. Reducing the number of handling events through container systems, ensuring thermal management during all seasons, minimising journey duration, and training catchers in low-stress technique are evidence-based welfare improvements. The welfare case for local and on-farm slaughter that eliminates transport entirely is compelling for smaller flocks. Consumer demand for welfare-certified poultry should extend to transport and slaughter conditions, not just on-farm housing.