Chick culling

Chick culling is the process of separating and disposing of unwanted male embryos or chicks, for which the intensive animal farming industry has no use. It occurs in all industrialised egg production whether free range, organic, or battery cage. Worldwide around 7 billion male chicks are culled per year in the egg industry.[1] Because male chickens do not lay eggs and only those on breeding programmes are required to fertilise eggs, they are considered redundant to the egg-laying industries and are usually killed shortly after being sexed, which occurs just days after they are conceived or after they hatch.[1] Some methods of culling that do not involve anaesthetics include: cervical dislocation, asphyxiation by carbon dioxide and maceration using a high speed grinder, while other methods include using a laser to cut a hole in the egg, removing a drop of fluid to be tested and providing the sex of the chicken. Asphyxiation is the primary method in the United Kingdom,[2] while maceration is the primary method in the United States.[3] As of 2016, US producers expected by 2020 to be able to determine the sex of the developing chick long before hatching, so male eggs can be destroyed.[3][4]

Male chicks on a macerator conveyor belt
Male chicks prepared to be killed

Due to modern selective breeding, laying hen strains differ from meat production strains (broilers). In the United States, males are culled in egg production, since males "don’t lay eggs or grow large enough to become broilers".[3]

Ducklings and goslings are also culled in the production of foie gras. However, because males put on more weight than females in this production system, the females are culled, sometimes in an industrial macerator.[5] Up to 40 million female ducks per year may be killed in this way. The remains of female ducklings are later used in cat food and fertilisers.[6]

History
Chick grinding machine

Prior to the development of modern broiler meat breeds, most male chickens (cockerels) were slaughtered for meat, whereas females (pullets) would be kept for egg production. However, once the industry successfully bred separate meat and egg-producing hybrids—starting in the 1920s and 1930s[7]—there was no reason to keep males of the egg-producing hybrid. As a consequence, the males of egg-laying chickens are killed as soon as possible after hatching and sexing to reduce losses incurred by the breeder. Special techniques have been developed to accurately determine the sex of chicks at as young an age as possible.

In November 2018, the "world's first no-kill eggs" were sold to the public in Berlin, Germany.[8]

Methods

Several methods are used to cull chicks:

  • Maceration; the chicks are placed into a large high-speed grinder.[2]
  • Cervical dislocation; the neck is broken.
  • Electrocution; an electric current is passed through the chick's body until it is dead.[9]
  • Suffocation; the chicks are placed in plastic bags.[10]
  • Gases or gas mixtures; carbon dioxide is used to induce unconsciousness and then death.[2]

The American Veterinary Medical Association (AMVA) "Euthanasia" methods include: cervical dislocation, maceration, and asphyxiation by carbon dioxide.[11] 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. The policy states "Unwanted chicks, poults, and pipped eggs should be killed by an acceptable humane method, such as use of a commercially designed macerator that results in instantaneous death. Smothering unwanted chicks or poults in bags or containers is not acceptable. Pips, unwanted chicks, or poults should be killed prior to disposal. A pipped egg, or pip, is one where the chick or poult has not been successful in escaping the egg shell during the hatching process."[12]

Controversy
Chicks bred in the early 1900s

Animal welfare advocates maintain that many of the current practices surrounding chicken slaughtering are unethical.[13][14][15] Animal rights advocates argue that it is wrong to unnecessarily exploit and kill other sentient beings for food production, including chicks.[16]

In June 2019, in Germany, a court case was decided that the current way of culling chicks "violates the country's laws against killing animals without a justifiable reason."[17]

In September 2019, in Switzerland, the parliament voted to outlaw the shredding of chickens. This is despite this practice not being used in Switzerland. It was further commented that: “This tendency to rear species only for the production of eggs or for meat turns animals into mere objects. It has led to absurd practices such as the shredding of living male chicks”.[18]

In January 2020, in France, the nation's Agriculture Minister Didier Guillaume announced that the culling of unwanted male chicks would be outlawed by the end of 2021. While some animal rights activists welcomed the move, others said that the decision did not go far enough.[19]

Alternatives

Several technologies may obviate chick culling by determining the sex of a chick before hatching. These technologies rely on measuring eggs (through spectroscopy, chemical assays, or imaging); they can determine a chick's sex within 4-9 days of laying. Some methods require genetic engineering to make male eggs fluorescent. Such methods are attractive not only for ethical reasons but to reduce the costs of employing human cullers and of incubating male eggs. Timothy Kurt, a director from the United States Department of Agriculture, said, "Everyone wants the same thing, and the right piece of technology could solve this right now."[17]

A Unilever spokesperson has been quoted as saying "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. This new technology offers the potential to eliminate the hatching and culling of male chicks."[10]

In 2018, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, invested $844,000 to electronically "scan" fertilized eggs to determine if they are male or female.[20]

In September 2019, the Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research, a company that was founded by the United States congress in 2014 will award six contestants from ten countries, $6 million for working entries.[17] United Egg Producers intends to be cull-free by 2020.[17]

CRISPR technology uses a "pair of molecular scissors" to illuminate the male chicks after being conceived and before being placed in the incubator to be hatched, thus eliminating all male chicks from being hatched.[21]

See also
  • Culling
  • Chick sexing

References
  1. Krautwald Junghanns, ME; Cramer, K; Fischer, B; Förster, A; Galli, R; Kremer, F; Mapesa, EU; Meissner, S; Preisinger, R; Preusse, G; Schnabel, C; Steiner, G; Bartels, T (1 March 2018). "Current approaches to avoid the culling of day-old male chicks in the layer industry, with special reference to spectroscopic methods". Poultry Science. 97 (3): 749–757. doi:10.3382/ps/pex389. PMID 29294120.
  2. Saul, H. (March 5, 2015). "Hatched, discarded, gassed: What happens to male chicks in the UK". Retrieved July 1, 2015.
  3. Blakemore, Erin (2016-06-13). "Egg Producers Pledge More Humane Fate for Male Chicks". Smithsonian.
  4. Fassler, Joe; DiPrinzio, Harry (15 July 2016). "The cure for culling". The New Food Economy. Retrieved 18 August 2016.
  5. Rodenburg, T. B.; Bracke, M. B. M.; Berk, J.; Cooper, J.; Faure, J. M.; Guémené, D.; Guy, G.; Harlander, A.; Jones, T. (December 2005). "Welfare of ducks in European duck husbandry systems". World's Poultry Science Journal. 61 (4): 633–646. doi:10.1079/WPS200575. ISSN 1743-4777.
  6. Hughes, I. (2014). "Shocking video shows hundreds of live ducklings 'thrown into mincer' on cruel 'foie gras farm'". The Mirror. Retrieved March 14, 2015.
  7. "U.S. Chicken Industry History". The National Chicken Council. Retrieved 2019-10-10.
  8. Le Blond, Josie (December 22, 2018). "World's first no-kill eggs go on sale in Berlin". The Guardian. Retrieved February 17, 2020.
  9. Humane Killing of Male Chicks at the Laying Branch Archived September 27, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
  10. Saraswathy, M. "Unilever working to end the culling of male chicks". Business Standard. Retrieved February 5, 2015.
  11. "AVMA Guidelines for the Euthanasia of Animals: 2020 Edition* - M1.4 Carbon Monoxide - M3.6 Cervical Dislocation - M3.10 Maceration" (PDF). American Veterinary Medical Association. 2020. pp. 26–27, 44, 47. Retrieved January 26, 2020.
  12. Kahler, Susan C (September 1, 2006). "Executive Board meets pressing needs". American Veterinary Medical Association. Retrieved February 17, 2020.
  13. Gillick, Kathryn (April 22, 2003). "DA asks for more information in chicken chipping case". United Poultry Concerns. Retrieved February 17, 2020.
  14. Toliver, Zachary (March 13, 2017). "Treated Like Garbage, These Chicks Are Burned, Drowned, and Walked On". PeTA. Retrieved February 17, 2020.
  15. "Egg laying and male birds". Vegsoc.org. Archived from the original on February 22, 2009.
  16. Lin, Doris (January 8, 2018). "What Are Animal Rights?". ThoughtCo. Retrieved January 26, 2020.
  17. Vogel, Gretchen (August 14, 2019). "'Ethical' eggs could save male chicks from mass slaughter". Science Magazine. Archived from the original on December 19, 2019. Retrieved August 26, 2019.
  18. Vuilleumier, Marie (September 20, 2019). "Switzerland bans shredding of male chicks". Swissinfo. Retrieved February 19, 2020.
  19. "France to ban culling of unwanted male chicks by end of 2021". BBC News. 29 January 2020. Retrieved 29 January 2020.
  20. Wray, Meaghan (January 16, 2020). "Germany, France push to end male chick 'shredding' in European Union". Retrieved February 17, 2020.
  21. Ryan, Jackson (March 7, 2019). "How CRISPR could save 6 billion chickens from the meat grinder - Red light, green light". CNET. Retrieved February 17, 2020.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.