Broiler Catching and Loading Welfare at Depopulation
The catching and loading of broiler chickens before transport to slaughter is a high-intensity, brief but welfare-critical event. Bird handling, lighting, stocking in crates, and mechanical catching equipment all influence injury rates, stress levels, and mortality.
Key Facts
Conventional manual catching involves workers inverting and carrying four to six birds per hand by the legs, a technique associated with wing and leg injuries
Broiler catching is typically performed at night under dim blue light to reduce bird activity levels and catching stress
Mechanical catching machines that sweep birds onto a belt and into crates achieve lower injury rates than manual catching in some comparative studies
Mortality during the catching and transport phase accounts for 0.1 to 0.3 per cent of birds, representing millions of animals annually across the industry
Catchers working under piece-rate payment incentives handle birds faster, increasing injury risk compared to hourly-paid catching teams
Welfare Considerations
Birds caught manually by multiple legs simultaneously experience acute pain from limb distension and bruising. Dropped birds injured on shed floors may not be identified and humanely killed before loading. Welfare improvements require catcher training programmes with assessed technique standards, elimination of piece-rate payment in favour of time-based incentives, and investment in mechanical catching technology where farm layout permits. Regular wing and leg injury sampling at slaughter plants provides objective feedback on catching quality for specific farms and creates accountability for producers.
What You Can Do
Support welfare certification schemes that include catching training requirements and injury monitoring in their standards
Ask retailers about catching training and injury rate monitoring requirements in their chicken supply chain audits
Advocate for the elimination of piece-rate payment for broiler catching teams in favour of time-based incentives
Donate to poultry welfare organisations funding research into mechanical catching equipment adoption in commercial systems
Reduce chicken consumption or shift to higher-welfare certified products from producers with verified catching welfare standards