The transport of poultry to slaughter is a welfare-critical period involving extreme temperature stress, physical injury, and psychological fear.
Poultry transport welfare is an area where large numbers of birds experience acute suffering in a compressed time period. The catching and loading process involves teams of workers manually catching birds in darkened houses under time pressure, holding multiple birds by their legs. This process breaks wings and dislocates joints in a significant proportion of birds. Vehicle transport exposes birds to temperature extremes that in cold weather cause hypothermia and in hot weather cause heat stress, contributing to mortality rates during transport that can reach 1% or more in adverse conditions. Birds arrive at slaughter facilities having experienced fear, pain, and physiological stress that compromises their welfare even before the slaughter process begins. Mechanized catching equipment, better vehicle design, and transport duration limits all represent achievable welfare improvements.