The stunning and slaughter of poultry involves welfare challenges at significant scale. Understanding the methods and their welfare implications helps consumers evaluate supply chains.
Poultry slaughter welfare operates at a scale that makes individual animal monitoring practically impossible in conventional systems. The pre-stun handling period — shackling, inversion, and the live-hang area — is identified by welfare scientists as the most significant welfare problem in many plants. Controlled atmosphere stunning avoids inversion of conscious birds and allows birds to remain in their transport containers until unconscious. Consumer support for higher-welfare slaughter through purchasing choices and supply chain pressure drives adoption of better methods.