Back

Stunning system

Water-Bath Stunner

Electrified poultry stunning bath

  • Slaughter systems
  • Slaughter
  • Broiler chickens
Photograph of Water-Bath Stunner
Context photograph related to Water-Bath Stunner and Broiler chickens

What it is

Birds are shackled while alive and carried head-first through electrified water. The current is meant to make them unconscious before their necks are cut.

Where it sits in the system

One bath stuns bird after bird without stopping the line. It exists so that killing keeps pace with throughput.

Welfare concern

Being shackled while conscious is frightening and aggravates existing injuries. Birds shocked before the bath, birds that miss the water, and birds that take too little current reach the blade still conscious.

Worth being precise about

Electrical stunning works when every bird is shackled correctly and the current reaches all of them. Settings and line management decide whether that happens, and the failure risks are major.

Sources

Appears in these walkthroughs

Related entries