Electrical water bath stunning for poultry is widespread but often poorly monitored, and advances in monitoring technology are improving compliance and welfare outcomes in poultry slaughter.
Poultry stunning welfare depends on both appropriate equipment design and consistent monitoring to ensure effective parameters are maintained during operation. Water bath stunners with inadequate current, poor circuit contact, or equipment failure can fail to induce unconsciousness, resulting in conscious birds entering scalding tanks - a severe welfare failure. Monitoring advances including in-line current verification, automated alerts, and regular calibration checking are improving compliance. Controlled atmosphere stunning systems, while more capital-intensive, offer welfare advantages by avoiding shackling of conscious birds and providing more reliable unconsciousness.