Isn’t it possible to preserve the minhag of kaparos with chickens but not be oiver on tzaar baal chaim?
I’m also a bit confused by some of the posts- I don’t believe they do the actual shecting at the kapaaros site, they just pile up the chickens and then haul them away to the slaughterhouse (presumably), where processing time should be the same as all chickens.
Chickens that I have seen at kaparos do have feathers.
Anyway, I am very thankful to my husband that his minhag is to use money.