Emergency Killing of Poultry during Disease Outbreaks in the Nordic Countries

This presentation summarizes methods available for killing poultry during outbreaks of epizootic or zoonotic diseases. Available methods for killing poultry are listed and discussed with relation to practical aspects, biosecurity, animal welfare, occupational hazards and other pros and cons of each method. The stunning methods mentioned are blow to the head, electrical stunning and captive bold stunning, all mainly applicable for small or possibly medium-sized farms. The killing methods discussed are bleeding, neck dislocation, maceration, injection of barbiturates, carbon dioxide (in-house, in containers, in flow-containers), nitrogen and argon gas, of which some are suitable also for large poultry flocks.