Farmed Chicken Transport Welfare

Transporting live chickens to slaughter is associated with high mortality, thermal stress, and injury; industry best practice can substantially reduce this welfare burden.

Key Facts

An estimated 0.1-0.3% of broiler chickens die during transport to slaughter in the EU — millions of birds annually.
Heat stress is the primary cause of transport mortality in summer months.
Catching and crating birds causes fractures, bruising, and dislocations at significant rates in conventional systems.
EU Regulation 1/2005 sets maximum journey times, temperature ranges, and stocking densities for transport.
Night transport during cooler temperatures significantly reduces heat stress mortality in summer.

Welfare Considerations

Transport to slaughter is the final welfare challenge for broiler chickens. The cumulative stresses of catching, crating, vehicle loading, the journey, and lairage before slaughter occur within the last 12-24 hours of the birds' lives. Many birds arrive at slaughter plants dehydrated, exhausted, and injured. Monitoring of dead-on-arrival (DOA) rates provides a welfare indicator for transport management quality. Industry improvements including automated catching, appropriate vehicle ventilation, journey time reduction, and night transport have demonstrated welfare benefits. Consumer preference for higher-welfare chicken products creates incentives for the entire supply chain, including transport standards.

What You Can Do

Choose higher-welfare chicken products from supply chains with documented transport welfare standards.
Support mandatory CCTV on livestock vehicles including poultry transport.
Advocate for stricter enforcement of EU transport regulations including temperature and journey time limits.
Reduce chicken consumption to lower demand for systems where transport welfare remains poor.