How poultry are stunned before slaughter, where current methods fall short, and what welfare improvements are needed for billions of birds.
Poultry slaughter welfare affects more individuals than any other form of animal production. The sheer scale — over 70 billion chickens alone annually — means that even small improvements in stunning effectiveness translate into enormous reductions in suffering. Current water bath stunning systems have well-documented welfare problems: birds are shackled live, may receive painful pre-stun shocks, and some birds miss the stunner and are killed while conscious. Controlled atmosphere systems, where birds are gently rendered insensible in transport modules before handling, represent a significant welfare improvement but are more expensive to implement. Regulatory pressure and consumer awareness are the primary drivers of adoption.