Chick welfare in a large, commercial chicken hatchery: A case study

Worldwide, approximately 1.8 billion chicks are hatched every month in commercial hatcheries. A typical commercial hatchery is a high-speed and stressful environment. Not only is chick welfare impacted while at the hatchery, but chickens' early life experiences can also have long-lasting impacts on their welfare after they are moved from the hatcheries. Additionally, the capacity to suffer in chick embryos (i.e., to experience pain, distress, or other prolonged negative welfare) may commence approximately three days before hatching by embryonic day 18-and likely earlier. Based on this knowledge, this case study sought to assess the prevalence of welfare problems in an exemplar US hatchery.

A 4-minute video of undercover footage from a large commercial US hatchery was reviewed. Animal-based indicators detailed by the European Food Safety Authority were used to identify animal welfare problems present in the footage.

Overall, 17 severe welfare problems with concurrent suffering were identified in the undercover footage. The most severe harms were associated with a high risk of injury or death. These most commonly arose from unsafe equipment that caused chicks to get stuck in machinery, fall off conveyor belts, or be unintentionally put through a high-temperature washer. Late-stage chick embryos were also frequently crushed. The lack of prompt euthanasia meant that many chicks and embryos experienced inhumane deaths. This evidence suggests that there are significant levels of harm and concomitant suffering experienced by many chicks and chick embryos at the aforementioned hatchery-and likely many other commercial hatcheries globally.