Chick culling

Maceration is often a preferred method over carbon dioxide asphyxiation in western countries as it is often considered as "more humane" due to the deaths occurring immediately or within a second.

[22] In Canada, the National Farm Animal Care Council (Conseil National Pour Les Soins Aux Animaux D'Elevage) publishes the Code of Practice for the Care and Handling of Hatching Eggs, Breeders, Chickens and Turkeys,[23] (2016, amended from time to time), which is mentioned in the Health of Animals Regulations section 72.5(1)[24] as the requirements and industry standards that must be met.

The 2005–2006 AMVA Executive Board proposed a policy change, recommended by the Animal Welfare Committee on the killing of unwanted chicks, poults, and pipped eggs.

[47][48][49] Animal rights advocates argue that it is wrong to unnecessarily exploit and kill other sentient beings for food production, including chicks.

"[53] A Unilever spokesperson has been quoted as saying in 2014: "We have also committed to providing funding and expertise for research and introduction of alternative methods such as in-ovo gender identification (sexing) of eggs.

The procedure would use a laser to drill a hole into the eggshell and analyze the way the egg's blood cells disperse that light using near-infrared Raman spectroscopy.

[56] In September 2019, the Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research, a company that was founded by the United States Congress in 2014 announced a $6 million prize for in-ovo sexing technology that could meet certain criteria.

[59] In spring 2021, the Leiden-based Dutch company In Ovo presented the new in ovo-sexing machine "Ella", which had an accuracy of over 95%, which could possibly be upgraded to 99% in the short term.

Its method of retrieving some fluid from the fertilised egg with a needle, and finding the biomarker sabineamine in this sample with mass spectrometry, takes less than one second to perform.

Startups including Respeggt and In Ovo responded skeptically, saying the publication of these conclusions seemed rushed, and that "many methods may seem promising at first, but aren't immediately useful in practice.

[62] On 13 June 2019,[62] this court decided that the current way of culling chicks "violates the country's laws against killing animals without a justifiable reason.

[64] In response to the June 2019 Leipzig court ruling, German Agriculture Minister Julia Klöckner stated chick culling was "ethically unacceptable" and argued it should be prohibited.

[62] The Grand Coalition agreement of March 2018 stated that chick culling should have been ended "by the middle of the current legislative period", which would have been in October 2019, but this goal was not met.

[65] Although the federal government had already invested millions of euros in stimulating scientific research into two alternative methods for sex determination in eggs by then, these were still not ready for the market yet.

[67] On 28 January 2020, Guillaume repeated at a press conference that the culling of unwanted male chicks (by shredding) would be outlawed in France by the end of 2021.

[70] In early February 2020, four Dutch animal rights organisations sent letters to Prime Minister Mark Rutte and the Parliamentary Commission on Agriculture urging them to follow the examples given by Switzerland and France, and phase out all chick culling including gassing in the Netherlands by the end of 2021.

[72] In March 2020, the Directorate of Production and Agrarian Markets of the Spanish Ministry of Agriculture stated that it is working with egg producers to end the annual culling of 35 million male chicks in Spain in 2021.

[52] On 15 June 2021, the Dutch parliament by 81 votes to 69 adopted a motion[78] directed at Agriculture Minister Carola Schouten to ban chick killing in the Netherlands.

[79][80] The motion, written and submitted by MPs Sandra Beckerman (SP) and Leonie Vestering (PvdD), stated: "[Parliament], noting that about 40 million male chicks are killed in the Netherlands annually because they have no economic value; considering that this is unnecessary because there are alternatives; considering that France and Germany are already introducing a ban; pronounces that the killing of male chicks should be prohibited.

"[79][78] The same day, another motion by MPs Beckerman and Derk Boswijk (CDA), adopted by a much larger majority of 115 votes to 35,[81] requested the government to inquire how, and how fast, a ban on killing male chicks could be introduced.

"[81] The Steering Group on One-Day Cockerels, set up by the Ministry of Agriculture after this, published two research reports in November 2022, which showed that the issue was complex and a Dutch ban on chick killing could not be introduced for the time being, but agreements were already reached between the Ministry and the poultry sector on structurally reducing chick killing.

[88] Both maceration and gassing will be prohibited, and the French government would grant chicken breeders subsidies of 10 million euros combined in order to acquire in-ovo sexing machines instead (leading to extra consumer costs of about 1 eurocent per box of six eggs).

[8] In December 2021, Italy's Chamber of Deputies first proposed plans to ban chick culling per 1 January 2027, confirming its decision on 3 August 2022, in part due to welfarists' campaigning since 2020.

[40] As the country's main egg producer installed in-ovo sexing technology installed in summer 2023,[96] its first no-kill eggs entering shops in 2024,[96] and its only competitor unveiled plans to open a new no-kill hatchery in autumn 2024 as well,[97] it was expected as of April 2024 that the Norwegian government would adopt a national ban on the killing of cockerels in the future as demanded by the Storting.

[98] As of December 2023, in-ovo sexing had reached about 15% market penetration in the EU, but an EU-level agreement to ban chick culling altogether was not yet forthcoming.

[99] The increasing availability of in-ovo sexing machines in Europe allowed for the prevention of the birth and killing of the equivalent number of male chicks.