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Published on: February 4, 2020
Last updated on: October 22, 2025

This investigation documents the slaughter of laying hens, including chickens carrying the Beter Leven and EKO certifications.

Ongehoord published a comprehensive investigation on chicken slaughterhouses in early 2020, following earlier studies on the living conditions of broiler chickens (2013) and laying hens (2017). Chicken slaughter is linked to significant welfare issues, including injuries during capture and transport, limited movement, hunger, thirst, heat stress, painful stunning methods, and a large number of conscious animals being killed.

The Netherlands is home to fifteen large chicken slaughterhouses that focus on broiler chickens. Additionally, there is the Remkes slaughterhouse in Epe, which mainly handles spent broiler breeders, and the W. van der Meer slaughterhouse in Dronryp, which processes spent laying hens (hens that produce eggs for human consumption). Due to the limited capacity for slaughtering spent laying hens in the Netherlands, many of these hens are transported live to foreign slaughterhouses, especially in Belgium, where there are two facilities for laying hens.

In addition to literature research, Ongehoord also conducted undercover investigations at W. van der Meer en sons BV. This company receives laying hens that have been "used up" in the egg industry. After eighteen months of laying eggs, the egg production of these hens declines, their health worsens, and they become unprofitable for the egg farmer. The hens are then sent to slaughterhouses as a "waste product" to be processed into inexpensive soup chickens.

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