Poultry Stunning Methods and Welfare

Pre-slaughter stunning is a critical welfare intervention in poultry slaughter. Understanding different methods helps identify best practices and areas for improvement.

Key Facts

Electrical water bath stunning is used for most poultry globally but has significant welfare problems
Live birds hung on shackles before stunning experience stress, wing injuries, and pain
Controlled atmosphere killing using gas provides pre-stun insensibility with lower stress
High-current head-only electrical stunning achieves welfare outcomes comparable to gas methods
A proportion of birds in water bath systems are inadequately stunned
Religious slaughter without pre-stunning is exempt from requirements in some jurisdictions

Welfare Considerations

Pre-slaughter stunning is intended to ensure birds are insensible before death but current systems have significant welfare limitations. Water bath systems require shackling conscious birds, which causes fear, pain, and wing damage. Gas killing systems allow birds to remain in transport containers until insensible, eliminating shackling stress entirely. Regulatory and consumer pressure for higher-welfare slaughter methods has driven some adoption of gas systems in premium supply chains.

What You Can Do

Choose poultry certified from higher-welfare slaughter systems including CAS-killed products
Support policy advocacy for the phasing out of water bath stunning in favour of gas
Ask retailers about slaughter method requirements in their poultry supply chains
Reduce poultry consumption or substitute with plant-based alternatives
Support research into improved poultry slaughter welfare monitoring technology