The welfare impacts of the depopulation methods used in the EU in the context of avian influenza

Preliminary report of the EURCAW-PSFA-Poultry’s activity, aiming at making recommendations on the type of on-farm killing methods to deploy to ensure the most humane and effective depopulation in the case of Avian Influenza. It gives a general description of the 14 depopulation methods used in the EU. Existing variations of procedure for the five most commonly used depopulation methods, together with preliminary feedback on their effectiveness and associated animal welfare issues on depopulation sites, are also detailed.