Hundreds of millions of poultry are slaughtered daily worldwide. The method used in the final moments of life has enormous welfare implications across an almost incomprehensible scale.
Poultry slaughter is a welfare issue of almost incomprehensible scale. With over 60 billion chickens slaughtered annually, even a 1% failure rate in stunning effectiveness means hundreds of millions of birds reaching slaughter while still conscious. Conventional water bath electrical stunning — the most widely used method — has documented failure rates from neck position variation, wing position, and line speed pressures. Controlled atmosphere stunning — which renders birds unconscious in gas before any physical handling — eliminates the welfare costs of shackling conscious birds and produces consistently high unconsciousness rates. The transition from water bath to CAS with inert gas is technically achievable and is being required by major retailers through supply chain commitments. Mandating this transition through regulation would benefit tens of billions of birds annually.