Farm Animal Welfare

Poultry Pre-Slaughter Handling and Stress

The period before slaughter including catching, transport, and lairage causes significant stress. Minimizing duration and improving handling reduces end-of-life suffering.

Key Facts

Pre-slaughter stress causes measurable cortisol elevation, muscle glycogen depletion, and behavioral distress
Lairage time exceeding 4 hours increases stress indicators in pigs and poultry
Low-light catching and careful vehicle loading reduce poultry stress during pre-slaughter transport
Water misting and shade during summer lairage reduces thermal stress in waiting animals
Pre-slaughter stress affects both welfare and meat quality, aligning producer and animal interests

Welfare Considerations

Pre-slaughter handling is the final chapter of an animal's welfare experience and deserves serious attention. Minimizing the duration and stress of catching, transport, and lairage reduces end-of-life suffering significantly. The alignment between welfare improvement and meat quality improvement provides a practical case for adoption alongside the ethical case.

What You Can Do

Support welfare standards requiring pre-slaughter handling auditing
Advocate for maximum lairage time limits and thermal environment standards
Choose meat from certified welfare programs that include pre-slaughter handling criteria
Support research into low-stress pre-slaughter handling systems and their welfare impacts