The method by which chickens and turkeys are stunned and slaughtered affects the welfare of billions of animals annually. Advances in stunning technology and the debate over religious slaughter raise important welfare questions.
Poultry slaughter welfare involves choices that affect billions of individual animals. Water-bath electrical stunning carries risks of pre-stun shocks causing pain before the stun, failed stuns where birds remain conscious, and handling stress during shackling. Controlled atmosphere systems eliminate shackling and pre-stun handling but use CO2 concentrations that cause aversion and distress before unconsciousness. Non-stun slaughter prolongs the time between neck cut and loss of consciousness. The scale of poultry slaughter globally means even small reductions in the proportion of animals experiencing unnecessary suffering at slaughter represent enormous welfare gains. Technical improvements in monitoring, stun adequacy verification, and system design can reduce welfare costs at this critical point.