a colony basket and method of using the same for handling poultry from doc through the growing process and on to a production facility comprising a harvesting system , a loading system , a transport system , an unloading and storing system , hanging system and cleaning system . the system and method performs the steps of harvesting and colonizing live poultry into a singly stackable and transportable colony basket , stacking and loading the trays on a transport , unloading and temporarily storing the poultry for subsequent processing . the system and method further includes the use of a modular colony basket for interchangeable use with the described system .