Development and Extension of Industry Best Practice for On Farm Euthanasia of Spent Layer Hens

At depopulation, spent layers have historically been caught, crated and transported to various poultry processing plants where they are slaughtered and processed as whole birds or further processed for use in a variety of human food products. Due to the reduced commercial value of spent hen meat and the imposed charges applied to collecting spent layers, egg producers are looking for alternative ways of removing spent layer hens.