Water bath electrical stunning — the dominant method for poultry slaughter — has significant welfare limitations that newer technologies are beginning to address.
The slaughter of billions of poultry birds annually represents one of the largest welfare challenges in food production. The conventional water bath electrical stunning system has multiple welfare failure points: shackling conscious birds causes pain; birds miss the stunner in a proportion of cases; and stunning parameters that meet legal minima may not provide reliable insensibility. Alternative technologies including controlled atmosphere killing and low atmospheric pressure stunning eliminate pre-stun handling stress but require capital investment that has slowed adoption. Consumer demand for higher welfare standards and regulatory requirements for better stunning technology are both needed to accelerate the transition to more humane slaughter methods for poultry.