Farmed Chicken Catching and Loading Welfare Standards

The catching and loading of broiler chickens for slaughter is one of the most welfare-significant events in their lives. Understanding the welfare impact and improvement opportunities matters.

Key Facts

Approximately 1.1 billion broilers are caught and loaded annually in UK facilities
Manual catching involves workers grasping birds by legs and transferring to crates in darkened houses
Mechanical harvesters use rubber-fingered carousels that gather birds and deposit them in crates
Injury rates from catching include wing fractures, dislocations and bruising in 1-5% of birds
Modular systems that keep birds in the same container from catch to slaughter reduce handling
Training and competency standards for catching crews are not yet mandatory in the UK
CCTV monitoring during catching is increasingly required by welfare-conscious retailers

Welfare Considerations

Catching is a concentrated welfare event that determines the final experience of every broiler chicken before slaughter. Manual catching by poorly trained workers causes preventable injury - a wing fracture sustained during catching means the bird travels to slaughter and waits in lairage in pain. Even well-executed catching is inherently stressful: these birds have had minimal human contact and the catching process involves handling, inversion and transport that are profoundly unfamiliar. The welfare improvement comes from reducing injury rates, minimising the duration of the process, and improving systems that reduce the number of times birds are handled.

What You Can Do

Support retailers who require CCTV monitoring during catching and publishing injury rates
Advocate for mandatory catching operator training and competency assessment
Choose chicken from producers using modular systems that minimise secondary handling
Support Compassion in World Farming campaigns for improved pre-slaughter welfare standards
Reduce broiler chicken consumption as a direct welfare response