Farmed Animals

Poultry Catching and Transport Welfare

The catching and loading of broiler chickens before transport to slaughter is a high-welfare-risk procedure causing injuries, stress, and mortality.

Key Facts

Broiler catching involves handlers grasping birds by legs and carrying multiple birds per hand
Injury rates during catching include wing and leg fractures, dislocations, and internal hemorrhage
Mechanical harvesting systems exist that reduce injury rates and handler labor
Some catching operations occur at night when birds are calmer but catching is still inherently stressful
Transport mortality rates provide a welfare indicator that regulatory systems are beginning to track

Welfare Considerations

Broiler catching is a welfare crisis point where the cumulative physical damage from weeks of high-density rearing meets rough mechanical handling. Injury rates in conventional catching are significant and cause welfare harms in animals already compromised by fast-growth genetics. Mechanical harvesting reduces some injury types while potentially increasing others — the welfare comparison depends on implementation quality.

What You Can Do

Support welfare standards requiring injury monitoring and reporting at slaughterhouse receipt
Advocate for catching method standards based on evidence of injury rate outcomes
Choose chicken from producers with documented low transport injury rates where available
Support research into catching methods that minimize injury and stress
Reduce chicken consumption to lower demand for intensive broiler production requiring this welfare-risk process