French hatcheries will have to stop killing male layer chicks by the end of this year and should already be able to prove that they have taken the first steps to this end.
New legislation published during February sees France join Germany, where culling male chicks has been illegal since the start of the year. French producers, however, have a little longer to comply with the change with the government laying down various deadlines to be met as the year progresses.
50 million male chicks from layer breeds are thought to be destroyed in France in each year, however, public concerns over welfare have resulted in the practice becoming increasingly unacceptable in various countries, with consumer concern thought to be highest in France, Germany and the U.S.
Within France, five hatcheries will need to transition and have been given various options to address the problem.
Expected to be the most popular is the installation of in ovo sexing technology, however, the new legislation also allows for the raising of male chicks for meat and also states that dual purpose breeds could be hatched.
France first announced that it would ban the cullying of make chicks in mid-2021.
There have been numerous calls for similar measures to be adopted throughout the European Union, which has regulated the practice since the mid-1970s. These have come from both groups concerned by welfare and egg industries that are banning the practice, worried that others may gain a competitive advantage
Who’s doing what?
Eggs from flocks that have ben created without culling chicks, either through the use of in ovo sexing or through fattening males are already available in a number of countries, including France, Germany, the Netherlands, and Switzerland. Recent legislation in Italy suggests that that country will prohibit the slaughter of male layer chicks from 2026.
In the U.S., United Egg Producers, an association that represents about 90% of the country’s egg production, called for the elimination of day-old male chick culling by 2020, or as soon as alternative methods were commercially available and economically feasible, back in 2016.
Twelve months ago, however, it issued a follow-up statement noting that a method that meets the food safety, ethical standards and scalable solutions needed for the U.S. was not yet available, but that that it would continue to work with stakeholders and offer active support to end the practice.
