Where are meats slaughtered and processed?

Technology makes slaughter extremely quick to minimize discomfort. While making a single cut to the throat of an unconscious bird is largely effective, should the blade miss for any reason, trained workers stand by to quickly euthanize remaining birds. Proper maintenance of equipment and this back-up “human” system is key to a fast and humane slaughter process. After slaughter, birds enter a process where their feathers are removed. This is necessary in order to prepare the bird for processing. This begins by putting the chicken through a bath of hot water, which is designed to help loosen feathers.

Feather removal is performed by a machine called a “picker,” which includes hundreds of little rubber “fingers” that rotate around to remove the feathers. After feathers are removed, the birds are sent to an “eviscerating” line which removes internal organs and feet, also known as “paws.” Every single part of the bird is used —for example, chicken feet are considered a delicacy in Asian countries, and feathers are rendered and used as protein in some animal feed.