Tonight, Eyes on Animals trained chicken-catchers from a catching company in Germany on the upright method of catching birds. The team consisted of eight Polish employees, so a Polish interpreter from Eyes on Animals was present to make sure that all the Polish catchers could understand well what we were teaching. The training took place at a large German broiler farm.
Following the instructions, and with our support and guidance, the newly-trained catchers caught approximately 8,000 broiler chickens using our upright method. In total, there were around 22,000 chickens divided between two barns. The remaining 14,000 chickens were caught using conventional methods (about 4 chickens at a time, upside down by one leg). Because both catching methods were used tonight, the differences in stress levels became very apparent. The chickens that were grabbed by their legs immediately panicked, as could be seen by their attempts to upright their heads, wing-flapping, attempts to escape, and their loud screaming. With the upright catching method, none of this behavior was visible; the chickens remained calm.
The evening was organized by Tierschutzbund, which wants to introduce the Eyes on Animals upright catching method to poultry farmers who are certified with the Tierschutzlabel. The Tierschutzbund employees themselves also received practical training from Eyes on Animals, so they can also train chicken catchers in Germany in the future.
Tonight it again became clear how tiring it is to catch broiler chickens manually. These chickens are significantly heavier than laying hens and all sit on the ground. The advantage of the upright catching method is that you only catch one or two chickens at a time, thus only have to lift 2 – 5 kg). With the conventional method, you have to catch four chickens at a time, which means lifting 8-10 kg. However, with the upright catching method, you have to squat more often, as you catch just 1 or 2 birds at a time. This makes both methods physically demanding for the catchers. Adequate breaks and a good working atmosphere are thus essential. Tonight, we also noticed pressure on the catchers to work quickly as the slaughterhouse was expecting delivery by a certain time. This pressure leads to fatigue and frustration among the catchers who already are working so hard, and ultimately will risk animal welfare.
We worked with the poultry container systems from Marel. Overall, these worked well; the loading is done from bottom to top, and as soon as a drawer is full, you pull the lid over it. This prevents you from having to push shut heavy fully-loaded drawers into the containers, which is difficult to do without risking crushing chickens. Additionally, in the Marel containers there is enough space between the drawers to prevent heads or wings from getting caught. A net is also stretched over the top drawer to prevent birds from falling out. However, it was challenging to pull this net forward without it hitting the chickens; the chickens had to be pushed down in order to place the net over them. This is not okay and a clear indication that the vertical height of the upper drawer is insufficient.
Additionally, the container is not made in one piece, which adds another risk. When moving the drawers to the poultry truck, the drawers sometimes almost came loose from the container. Fortunately, this did not happen tonight, but if it were to happen, the chickens could be seriously injured.
All in all, it was a very educational evening. We were able to gather a lot of footage for training purposes, and once again saw firsthand how much less stress chickens experience when they remain upright while being caught and how stressful catching them upside down is.
The poultry farmer and veterinarians present today also saw for themselves that upright catching was much calmer. The downside of this method is that it takes longer (about 1.5 to 2 times as long), which can cause tension and stress between the poultry farmer, the catching team, the transporter, and the slaughterhouse, all under time pressure. The speed at which conventional catching is done today is fast but far too rough. Catching calmly and gently should be the “new normal” and if one wants to finish faster, one must simply have more catchers at work.
For very large barns, using chicken-catching machines would be more suitable. However, it is crucial that these machines operate at low speeds to avoid welfare issues. Unfortunately, many machines are used at high speeds, causing birds to be ‘spit out,’ hitting the sides of containers or landing roughly, which results in fear and injuries.
We would like to thank the poultry farmer, the catching team, and Tierschutzbund for the fruitful collaboration this evening.
