Farm Animal Welfare

Poultry Catching and Loading Welfare

Catching poultry before transport is a high-risk welfare event. Mechanical and trained manual catching can reduce injury and fear significantly.

Key Facts

Manual catching by grabbing one or two legs causes injury rates of 10-30% in broilers
Mechanical catching machines can reduce broken wings and bone damage when calibrated properly
Catching crews work in darkness to reduce bird arousal, but handling quality still varies
Up to 30% of broiler fractures and dislocations occur during catching and loading
Training catchers in low-stress handling techniques measurably reduces injury rates

Welfare Considerations

Poultry catching is one of the highest-welfare-risk points in commercial broiler production. In a matter of minutes, birds may experience more acute injury and fear than at any other point in their lives. Investment in training, equipment calibration, and monitoring is cost-effective relative to the welfare and production losses involved.

What You Can Do

Support retailers demanding catching welfare standards from poultry suppliers
Advocate for mandatory catching crew training standards in poultry legislation
Choose higher-welfare poultry certified by schemes auditing catching practices
Reduce poultry consumption to decrease demand for intensive catching operations