The HSA was delighted to be one of 16 organisations giving talks and presentations at the 2020 Scottish Smallholder Festival, Scotland’s largest smallholder event, celebrating the best of Scottish smallholding, growing and craft. 

The Festival aims to inform, educate and inspire, and to give attendees the opportunity to access information and advice from experienced practitioners that will support and encourage future smallholding ventures.  This year’s festival was a virtual event, but packed full of seminars, competitive classes and a showcase of the best rare and native livestock. 

Our Technical Officer Jade Spence gave the presentation, which was on small-scale, humane slaughter of poultry.  Jade said:  “Hobbyists and small producers often ask HSA how they can protect the welfare of their poultry at the time of killing, whether culling sick or injured individuals or if choosing a method of on-farm slaughter for year-round or seasonal meat processing. To prevent suffering and achieve acceptable welfare, we must consider birds’ anatomies and behaviour, with respect to the available techniques. In turn, describing to potential consumers why certain procedures are performed, encourages informed food choices and wider adoption of humane practices.”

Following the event, recordings of the talks can viewed free of charge, but viewers will need to register with their name and email address in order to view.  The talks can be accessed at 2020.ssgf.uk/talks/.

If you would like further information on the humane slaughter of poultry, you can find it here.  Small-scale and/or seasonal poultry producers or processors can find specific information in our online guide Practical Slaughter of Poultryand Technical Note 27.  These are available to download free of charge and are primarily aimed at producers and processors in the UK, but may also be useful to producers elsewhere.