Correction: To what extent do chickens suffer when gassed with CO2?

Animal Behavior and Welfare There was an error in Section “The onset of loss of consciousness in chickens during CO2 gassing”, third paragraph. The paragraph stated: “For chicken stunning/slaughter, the UK legal requirement is for exposure to a minimum concentration of 40% CO2. A biphasic approach to CO2 gassing refers to a first phase comprising a lower, and a second phase comprising a higher concentration of CO2. However, there is neither a requirement for a biphasic approach nor for incremental increases to the CO2 concentration (e.g., see [(12), Part 5, Point 30; (13), Annex I, Ch. 1, Table 3; (14)]).” Its corrected version appears below: “For chicken stunning/slaughter, the UK legal requirement is for biphasic exposure to CO2, with a maximum concentration of 40% CO2 in the first phase, and a higher CO2 concentration in the second phase. However, there is not a requirement for incremental increases to the CO2 concentration (e.g., see [(12), Part 5, Point 30; (13), Annex I, Ch. 1, Table 3]). Additionally, it should be noted that, as of February 2026, the government's official Guidance document (14) lists high concentration CO2 for standard poultry slaughter (except for geese and ducks) as legal, while legislation (13) forbids it apart from for emergency poultry slaughter. This inconsistency must be urgently rectified as many stakeholders will rely on the Guidance documents to explain legislation”. The original article has been updated.