Slaughter is the final welfare event in a farmed bird's life. The method used to stun and kill poultry has profound implications for the scale of suffering at this critical moment in production.
Poultry slaughter welfare deserves more public attention than it receives, given the enormous numbers of birds affected. Water bath stunning, the dominant method, is effective when correctly applied but carries systematic risks: pre-stun electric shocks when birds touch live water, inadequate stun depth for birds that miss the water, and distress during live-hang shackling. High-welfare slaughter systems use multi-phase controlled atmosphere killing that renders birds unconscious before any handling at shackle height, eliminating live-hang distress entirely. The practical barrier is cost: CAK systems require capital investment that smaller processors cannot readily absorb. Consumer willingness to pay premiums for higher-welfare products provides the market signal that makes this investment viable.