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Guidance on the Writing of a Humane Handling Plan for Poultry

For use beginning 6/20/2016
Although there are no specific state or federal humane handling and slaughter statutes for
poultry, under the PPIA and Agency regulations, live poultry should be treated humanely and in
a manner consistent with accepted Good Commercial Practices. The written humane handling
plan should describe what you do in your establishment to follow regulatory requirements to
assure that poultry is treated in such a manner that minimizes excitement, discomfort and
accidental injury the entire time that live poultry is held in connection with slaughter.
This guidance consists of questions based on good commercial practices and state and federal
regulations, to get you to think about what you do in your establishment. It is not meant to be
all inclusive, so if there are other things your establishment does to ensure proper handling of
poultry, please include it in your written plan.
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