Designing transport containers for more humane loading and transportation of spent laying hens to the slaughterhouse 

Year: 2023

Femke Delanglez and Frank Tuyttens
Animal Sciences Unit, Flanders Research Institute for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (ILVO), Belgium 

Research, Travel & Training Grant - £3,500

At the end of their commercial productive period, end-of-lay hens are caught and placed into crates or containers by a team of catchers. These crates and containers are then loaded onto a transport vehicle and taken to the slaughterhouse. The catching and crating process can cause stress and injury to both the hens and the catchers. This study aimed to optimise the well-being of both hens and catchers during crating. Therefore, two add-on prototypes to attach to the container drawers were tested across five commercial aviary farms: add-on prototype 1 (a metal tube with vertical flaps; see Figure 1) and add-on prototype 2 (a frame with horizontal flaps; see Figure 2). The hens remained calmer using add-on prototype 1 compared to add-on prototype 2, with no difference observed when using the standard container. Crating hens with add-on prototype 2 was less efficient than with the standard container. Additionally, catchers preferred add-on prototype 1 and the standard container over add-on prototype 2 due to ease of use and the hens' calmer behaviour. Furthermore, the use of add-on prototype 1 resulted in fewer breast bruises compared to the standard container, without a difference in crating efficiency. In contrast, add-on prototype 2 offered no benefits in terms of efficiency, animal welfare, or catcher well-being.

Figure 1                                                                                    Figure 2

The work has been submitted to a scientific journal, and also forms part of the PhD thesis by Femke Delanglez.