Arrangement and method for conveying poultry

An apparatus for conveying slaughtered poultry in a suspended state along a conveying path in a poultry processing plant, comprising:

• at least one linear motor conveying device with a circumferential guide rail comprising a linear drive and with a plurality of runners, each of the plurality of runners arranged to be separately controllable and movable along the guide rail by the linear drive;
• holding elements, designed to accommodate one poultry leg at a time, wherein one of the holding elements is arranged on each of the runners;
• and
• a control device designed to control the linear drive, which control device is designed to convey one of the poultry bodies at a time in a variably controllable manner by moving a pair of runners in pairs, wherein the runner pair comprises two of the adjacent runners.

A method for transferring slaughtered poultry between conveying lines in a poultry processing plant, comprising:

• conveying slaughtered poultry by at least one rotary device designed for conveying the slaughtered poultry in a suspended state along a curved conveying path, wherein the poultry bodies are each held by both legs by a plurality of suspension mounts of the rotary device;
• conveying the slaughtered poultry by a linear motor conveying device, which comprises a linear drive, along a circulating conveying path formed by a guide rail by controlled movement of a plurality of runners arranged along the guide rail, each runner being separately controllable and movable by the linear drive, wherein one poultry leg is held by holding elements, one each of which is arranged on each of the runners;
• and
• transferring of the slaughtered poultry between the conveying lines by at least partial overlapping of the curved conveying path of the rotary conveying device with a curved portion of the circulating conveying path in a transfer region.