The most common amputation for poultry is partial beak amputation. The process, originally called “debeaking,” is now euphemistically referred to by the industry as “beak trimming,” or “beak treatment.”[1]
Virtually all egg-laying hens and turkeys in industrial animal ag operations undergo the process. Additionally, birds used as breeders of egg-laying hens, breeders of broiler chickens, and breeders of turkeys are subjected to the process, both males and females.[2-4] It is sometimes performed on slower growing broiler chickens.[5]
Approximately one half of the upper beak and one third of the lower beak are removed.[6-8]
United Egg Producers (2017) Animal Husbandry Guidelines for U.S. Egg-Laying Flocks, p. 9. [We choose the words “partial beak amputation” as the most accurate description.]
Temple Grandin (ed.) (2021) Painful Husbandry Procedures in Livestock and Poultry. In Improving animal welfare: a practical approach, 3rd ed., CAB International, Boston, MA, p. 228. [“Thus, even in non-cage-layer systems, beak trimming is common.”]
Dr. Heng-wei Cheng, USDA (2010) Laying Hen Welfare Fact Sheet: Current Developments in Beak Trimming. https://www.ars.usda.gov/ARSUserFiles/50201500/beak%20trimming%20fact%20sheet.pdf
Philip C. Glatz & Greg Underwood (2021) Current methods and techniques of beak trimming laying hens, welfare issues and alternative approaches, Animal Production Science, 61, 968. https://www.publish.csiro.au/AN/AN19673
National Chicken Council (2020) National Chicken Council Animal Welfare Guidelines and Audit Checklist for Broilers, p. 8.
Dr. Heng-wei Cheng, USDA (2010) Laying Hen Welfare Fact Sheet. [“Beak trimming, removal of one third to one-half of the beak, is a routine husbandry procedure practiced in the poultry industry to prevent feather pecking and cannibalism.”]
Temple Grandin (ed.) (2021) p. 230. [“The operator should not remove more than one-half of the upper beak and one-third of the lower beak…”]
Glatz & Underwood (2021) Current methods and techniques of beak trimming laying hens, p. 973. [“It is likely that the beaks of birds that have less than half the beak treated will regrow, with IR and industry experience in the USA and Australia being that IRBT birds need to be re-trimmed with a HB.”]
There are two methods. The first is referred to as “hot blade” or HB. A heated guillotine-type blade cuts off part of the beak and cauterizes the remaining tissue. With this method, the chick is manually held against a base plate as the blade is lowered onto the top of the beak. Or the chick is placed into a piece of equipment that holds her head in a fixed position.
The second method is called “infrared-beam treatment” or IRBT. A pulse of high energy is sent through the beak by means of an infrared beam. The chicks are immobilized in head restraints on an automated carousel-type machine while the beam penetrates the beak. The outer portion of the beak degrades over the following 2 to 3 weeks.[1-4]
Philip C. Glatz & Greg Underwood (2021) Current methods and techniques of beak trimming laying hens, welfare issues and alternative approaches, Animal Production Science, 61, 968, p. 972–973.
Temple Grandin (ed.) (2021) Painful Husbandry Procedures in Livestock and Poultry. In Improving animal welfare: a practical approach, 3rd ed., CAB International, Boston, MA, p. 230.
Hy-Line Technical Update, Infrared Beak Treatment (2016). https://www.hyline.com/Upload/Resources/TU%20BEAK%20ENG.pdf
Poultry Performance Plus (2024) Methods of beak trimming. https://poultryperformanceplus.com/information-database/breeders/137-methods-for-beak-trimming
Infrared-beam treatment (IRBT) is usually performed at the hatchery at 1 day of age. Hot blade (HB) is usually performed within 5 to10 days of hatching. Sometimes a hen’s beak partially grows back, and a repeat procedure, usually HB, can be done when the birds are 5 to 8 weeks old.[1-4]
United Egg Producers (2017) Animal Husbandry Guidelines for U.S. Egg-Laying Flocks, p. 9. [“There are two acceptable practices for treating beaks: day-old infrared beak treatment at the hatchery and beak trimming at 10 days old or younger.” “If a trimmed beak grows back, a second trim may be needed when pullets are 5 to 8 weeks old.”]
Dr. Heng-wei Cheng, USDA (2010) Laying Hen Welfare Fact Sheet: Current Developments in Beak Trimming. https://www.ars.usda.gov/ARSUserFiles/50201500/beak%20trimming%20fact%20sheet.pdf
Temple Grandin (ed.) (2021) Painful Husbandry Procedures in Livestock and Poultry. In Improving animal welfare: a practical approach, 3rd ed., CAB International, Boston, MA, p. 230.
Philip C. Glatz & Greg Underwood (2021) Current methods and techniques of beak trimming laying hens, welfare issues and alternative approaches, Animal Production Science, 61, p. 973. https://www.publish.csiro.au/AN/AN19673
The acute and chronic pain endured by these birds should be self-evident. One pair of researchers describes how central the beak is to a bird’s life: “The avian beak is a multipurpose organ playing a vital role in a variety of functions, including feeding, drinking, playing, grasping objects, mating, nesting, preening and defence against predators and parasites.”[1] For birds, their beaks are their mouths, noses, and hands. No anesthesia is used for the amputations.
According to a report from the USDA’s Livestock Behavior Research Unit, “There is a considerable body of morphological, neurophysiological, behavioral and production research demonstrating the emergence of several markers of acute and chronic pain (e.g., persistent lethargy and guarding behaviors, reduced feed intake, and development of neuromas) as a result of trimming.”[2] Evidence suggests that pain and beak sensitivity can persist for weeks or months after trimming.[3,4] Studies indicate that the hot blade method causes more pain than the infrared-beam treatment.
Debeaking hundreds of millions of birds every year undoubtedly leaves untold thousands with unusually gruesome mutilations due to machinery malfunction or human miscalculation. There are machines in commercial hatcheries that can do beak trimming and simultaneous vaccination on day old chicks at the rate of 3,600 per hour.[5] Mistakes made on just 1 in 200 birds (.5%) would affect millions of animals.
Iqbal, A. & Moss, A. F. (2021). Review: Key tweaks to the chicken’s beak: the versatile use of the beak by avian species and potential approaches for improvements in poultry production. Animal (Cambridge, England), 15(2), 100119.
Dr. Heng-wei Cheng, USDA (2010) Laying Hen Welfare Fact Sheet: Current Developments in Beak Trimming, https://www.ars.usda.gov/ARSUserFiles/50201500/beak%20trimming%20fact%20sheet.pdf
Temple Grandin (ed.) (2021) Painful Husbandry Procedures in Livestock and Poultry. In Improving animal welfare: a practical approach, 3rd ed., CAB International, Boston, MA, p. 230.
Philip C. Glatz & Greg Underwood (2021) Current methods and techniques of beak trimming laying hens, welfare issues and alternative approaches, Animal Production Science, 61, 968, pp. 975-982.
[This report presents a detailed overview of current knowledge on hen’s acute and chronic pain in the scientific literature, investigating, for example, whether “birds were having difficulty adjusting to eating with a shorter beak.”]See, Zoo Techniques, https://www.zoo-techniques.com/ag4500-en.php
The vast majority of broiler chickens in the U.S. do not undergo partial beak amputations because they reach slaughter weight so quickly (average 47 days) that they don’t grow into the pecking behaviors that the amputations are meant to discourage. However, some slower growing broilers that are raised to a larger size may undergo the procedure.[1]
The breeding parents of broiler chickens do undergo beak amputation, both male and female.[2,3]
National Chicken Council (2020) National Chicken Council Animal Welfare Guidelines and Audit Checklist for Broilers, p. 8. [“Although fast-growing strains of broilers do not need beak treatment/conditioning to prevent injury due to feather pecking behavior, this may be necessary for slower-growing strains.”]
National Chicken Council Animal Welfare Guidelines and Audit Checklist for Broiler Breeders, pp. 8-9.
Temple Grandin (ed.) (2021) Painful Husbandry Procedures in Livestock and Poultry. In Improving animal welfare: a practical approach, 3rd ed., CAB International, Boston, MA, pp. 227-228.
More than half a billion birds have their beaks partially amputated each year. About 326 million egg-laying hens and 271 million turkeys were slaughtered or died (or were culled) before slaughter in 2023.[1,2] Virtually all of them had partially amputated beaks.
In the U.S., ~2.4 million birds undergo the process each workday of the year, or nearly 5,000 every minute.[3]
Egg-laying chickens: slaughtered 120 million + death before slaughter 206 million == 326 million, see Animal slaughtered for food and Poultry Death Before Slaughter [Note: death before slaughter figure for egg-laying hens excludes male chicks culled right after birth]
Turkeys: slaughtered 216 million + death before slaughter 55 million == 271 million.
Note: 2023 Slaughtered plus dying = 326 million egg-laying hens plus 271 million = 597 million / 250 work days = 2,388,000 / 480 minutes = 4975 birds per minute. Assumption that similar numbers are born each year and that the processes completed at a very early age almost always precede the animals dying of other causes.]
Male broiler breeders regularly undergo partial toe amputation, comb and/or wattle amputation (dubbing), and have leg claws cut off (de-spurring).[1,2]
Broiler breeders of both sexes are also permanently identified with metal wing or leg bands, or by making “toe punches,” or “toe slits,” i.e., cutting into the webbing between the toes on a bird’s foot in a variety of easily recognizable configurations.[3-5]
Male turkeys endure toe amputations to remove or reduce the claws of the three forward facing toes on each foot.[6]
De-snooding of turkeys (cutting or tearing off the fleshy wrinkled fold of skin that hangs down over a turkey’s beak) still appears to be done but may be less common.[7,8]
National Chicken Council (2020) National Chicken Council Animal Welfare Guidelines and Audit Checklist for Broiler Breeders, pp. 8-9.
Temple Grandin (ed.) (2021) Painful Husbandry Procedures in Livestock and Poultry. In Improving animal welfare: a practical approach, 3rd ed., CAB International, Boston, MA, p. 231.
Dennis, R.L. et al., (2008). Different Effects of Individual Identification Systems on Chicken Well-Being. Poultry Science, 87(6), 1052–1057, p. 1056. [“these bands were both positioned on a limb near a frequently used joint. The weight and the location of these bands may cause rubbing, chaffing, or general discomfort at the joint.”]
National Band & Tag Company, https://www.nationalband.com/wingbands/
The Modern Homestead (2024) Flock Identification. https://themodernhomestead.us/poultry/breeding/flock-identification/ [“Punches are made in the webbing between the toes, with two webs between the three toes of each foot, for a total of four possible punch positions. Just slip the webbing between the jaws of the toe punch and clamp down. Examine the punch and make sure the punched-out tissue is not hanging to one edge of the hole—if it is, regrowth of tissue into the hole is far more likely.”]
Fournier, J. et al., (2015). The effect of toe trimming on behavior, mobility, toe length and other indicators of welfare in tom turkeys. Poultry Science, 94(7), 1446–1453, p. 1446.
Temple Grandin (ed.) (2021), p. 231.
For a more comprehensive listing of mutilations (including for ducks) see, Tina Widowski & Ana Rentsch (2022) Farming Poultry, in Routledge Handbook of Animal Welfare, Andrew Knight, et al. (eds.), Taylor and Francis, pp. 48-49.