A qualitative survey among the Flemish poultry sector on how birds fit for transport to the slaughterhouse are selected, caught, and loaded

Broiler chickens and spent laying hens deemed fit-for-transport are caught, loaded, and transported to the slaughterhouse at the end of their productive period. Although this pre-slaughter stage is a high-risk phase for animal welfare issues and production losses, detailed up-to-date information about commercial practices is scant. Therefore, representatives of the Flemish poultry industry involved in this stage were surveyed to obtain an in-depth understanding of the current selection, catching, and loading practices, of the actions taken to prevent animal welfare issues or production losses, and their opinion about these practices. Flemish poultry farmers (broilers, n=5; laying hens, n=5), catchers (broilers, n=5; laying hens, n=5), transporters (n=5) and slaughterhouse representatives (n=5) were questioned during a face-to-face interview. The number surveyed was matched to saturation.
The most reported advantages of selecting poultry unfit-for-transport during the production cycle were less feed waste (5%), chicken uniformity (10%), feather pecking avoidance (10%), restraint of prolonged suffering and spread of disease by moribund animals (15%). The main disadvantages concerned more labor (extra costs) (15%) and inadequate knowledge (which animals) (10%).
For catching and loading, 100% of all the participants reported ‘in the dark’ as the best moment to catch and load in order to minimize stressing the birds. The majority (57%) were opposed to catching during the daytime, whereas 13% were in favor and 30% expressed no preference. The motivation for catching at night was the belief that the birds are calmer and less at risk of being exposed to heat stress during summer. In conclusion, this survey provided in-depth knowledge of how broilers and spent hens fit-for-transport are selected, caught, loaded, and transported, what the main welfare risks are, and which actions are and could perhaps be taken by the actors to reduce these risks.