Inside crates stacked on a concrete driveway, are hundreds of chickens waiting to be slaughtered.
Star Poultry is a family-owned poultry slaughterhouse in Keysborough, which has been operating for more than 50 years. They slaughter broiler chickens and ex-layer hens, to sell to their customers and in their onsite store. In the early hours of the morning, workers arrive and begin forklifting the crates. Many of the chickens who arrive at the slaughterhouse have died during transportation. Their bodies are pulled from the crates and thrown onto the concrete, while other chickens are roughly grabbed and hung upside down on the shackle line.
Often the birds will flap around in panic, fighting to escape from certain death. Some of the chickens manage to escape the workers’ grasp, but their freedom is short-lived as all are eventually cornered and put onto the shackle line. The crates, now empty of chickens, are put back on the truck that delivered them to the slaughterhouse. The truck departs and within the same hour, another arrives to take its place. The broiler chickens killed are just 6 weeks old. The ex-layer hens are from the egg industry. Late last year, we confirmed that Star Poultry slaughters spent hens from Josh’s Rainbow Eggs, a producer who previously claimed to be ‘ethical’ and rehome all of their ex-layer hens.
None of these chickens wanted to die.
