Poultry slaughter methods have major welfare implications for billions of birds — improving stunning reliability is one of the highest-impact interventions in food system welfare.
Poultry slaughter welfare is one of the highest-leverage areas in farm animal welfare given the extraordinary scale involved. Even a small improvement in stunning reliability translates to welfare gains for hundreds of millions of birds. Water-bath stunning fails when birds raise their heads and miss electrical contact, leaving them conscious at neck-cut. High-CO2 CAS induces aversion and distress; inert gas or controlled CO2 phase-in systems are preferred by welfare scientists. Consumer pressure and regulatory change in slaughter practices have historically driven the most significant welfare improvements in this sector.