Broiler Catching and Mechanical Harvester Welfare

Catching broiler chickens for transport to slaughter is one of the highest-welfare-risk points in the production cycle - manual catching causes injuries while mechanical harvesters show mixed welfare results.

Key Facts

Approximately 1 billion broiler chickens are caught for slaughter annually in the UK alone
Manual catching involves workers grabbing birds by the legs and carrying multiple birds simultaneously
Manual catching causes wing and leg fractures, bruising and dislocations documented at up to 4% of birds
Mechanical harvesters collect birds using rotating rubber fingers and conveyors, removing human variation
Studies show mechanical harvesting can reduce some injury types but may increase others depending on design
Catching is performed at night when birds are calmer but still causes significant disturbance
Catching duration can extend over several hours - birds caught first wait in crates while the barn is cleared

Welfare Considerations

Broiler catching welfare is a significant but often overlooked welfare risk in the production cycle. The acute stress and physical injury risk of catching represents a welfare cost across billions of birds annually. Mechanical harvesting offers partial improvements but is not a complete solution - machine design, bird size and barn conditions all affect welfare outcomes. Training and supervision of manual catching teams improves consistency but cannot eliminate injury risk entirely. Reducing stocking density gives birds more space to avoid injurious collisions during catching. The welfare case for slower-growing breeds includes their greater robustness during catching compared to fast-growing breeds.

What You Can Do

Support welfare labelling schemes that include transport and catching welfare requirements
Advocate for mandatory training and certification standards for poultry catching operatives
Support research into improved mechanical harvesting systems that reduce injury rates
Choose higher-welfare poultry products from lower-stocking-density and slower-growing breed systems
Campaign for catching welfare standards to be included in farm assurance scheme requirements