No advantage to CAK chicken slaughter
The National Chicken Council (NCC) states that, according to scientists, there is no advantage in terms of animal welfare for gas killing systems for poultry compared to the conventional stunning systems used by the US chicken industry.
The industry feels that while gas systems are worthy of further study, there is no proven reason yet to move away from conventional stunning systems.
Conventional stunning
Conventional stunning, as used by nearly all chicken processing plants in the US, is both effective and humane. Chickens are made unconscious and insensible to pain before they are humanely killed. This method is based on animals being put into an unconscious state by a low-level electrical current, usually facilitated by contact with water or an aqueous mist. Moments after being stunned, the birds are passed by a blade that opens an artery, resulting in rapid death. The entire process takes seconds.
Controlled Atmosphere Killing (CAK)
There is some interest in the US that employ carbon dioxide or argon gas in a cabinet or chamber to displace oxygen and render the birds unconscious or even to kill them. These are sometimes called Controlled Atmosphere Killing (CAK) systems. About one-fifth of chicken processing plants in Europe use gas stun-to-kill systems. Only a few plants in the US use these systems, however.
No welfare advantage
According to a statement issued by the American Association of Avian Pathologists and the American College of Poultry Veterinarians: “Physiologic evaluation has failed to demonstrate any welfare advantage of any CAS system over other accepted poultry electrical stunning methods in the US… Specifically, pulsed DC or AC low voltage stunning (the current US industry standards) allows plants to achieve instant electro-anesthesia at rates exceeding 99.95% efficiency when properly applied, as denoted by EEG monitoring and physical examination… The alternative CAS systems, while viable, do not offer any known animal welfare advantages and may in fact be associated with poultry excitation and injury prior to loss of consciousness.”
While the use of gas is sometimes depicted as “putting chickens to sleep,” the process is not always a pleasant experience. As Dr Bernard Rollin, a professor at Colorado State University and a noted writer on animal welfare, put it: “There is no distress as severe as the feeling of not being able to breathe. This feeling of suffocation is not only a result of lack of oxygen but also the inability to blow off carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide drives respiration. Even though CAS creates unconsciousness, there must be a period when the animal feels a sense of suffocation. For this reason, I do not accept CAS as a humane method of euthanasia.”
Some poultry scientists are willing to accept gas stunning but say it offers no significant advantages over conventional processing in terms of humaneness.
“The main animal welfare issue with poultry slaughter is the ability to induce instantaneous insensibility,” said Dr Yvonne Vizzier Thaxton, professor of poultry science at Mississippi State University. “The requirement is that all animals be insentient when slaughtered. Both electrical stunning and CAS fulfil this requirement when properly administered. We are continually examining potential technologies that may be equal to, or improve upon, those in current use.”
The stunning and slaughter process is covered by the National Chicken Council Animal Welfare Guidelines and Audit Checklist, which is widely followed within the industry. The Guidelines state: “Stunning and killing equipment should be constantly monitored to insure proper functioning for humane processing. Birds should be insensible to pain when killed. A post-stun posture that includes arched neck and wings tucked in is visual evidence of an effective stun. Backup personnel should be employed at the killing station to euthanize manually any bird not properly killed by the equipment.”
The National Chicken Council represents integrated chicken producer-processors, the companies that produce, process and market chickens. Member companies of NCC account for approximately 95% of the chicken sold in the US.
Source: National Chicken Council (NCC)
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