Male chick culling banned in Germany and France

February 7, 2022 Audrey O'Young

Legislation banning the slaughter of hatched day-old chicks entered into force in Germany on 1 January 2022 Simultaneously, a ban on the killing of male chicks by crushing or gassing entered into force in France. The two political efforts are, as the German Minister for Food and Agriculture, Julia Klöckner said, a “significant step forward for animal welfare”, being the first countries in the world to impose such ban. Germany and France are calling on other members of the European Union to follow suit.

Culling of Male Chicks

Animal welfare concerns arise frequently in the poultry farming industry. One of predominant areas of criticism is the practice of male chick culling. Male chicks are separated and killed days after being hatched and sexed, as they are considered redundant in industrialised egg production and chickens raised for egg-laying are leaner, requiring longer to put on meat and thus economically unsuitable to be raised for meat. Statistics from 2015 show that around 7 billion male chicks are culled annually. Although maceration and gassing are the most common methods of chick culling, culling is also achieved by way of cervical dislocation and suffocation.

In-Ovo Sexing

Although there is ongoing research into in-ovo sexing technologies (determining the sex of the chick inside the egg prior to hatching) with some success, it remains limited in use due to the costly nature of such technology. The technology currently only “allow the sex of the embryo of the egg to be determined between the 9th and 14th day of incubation, out of 21.”

The French law also requires hatcheries to install or have ordered equipment to carry out in-ovo sexing machinery from 1 January 2022. The second phase of the German law will, from 1 January 2024, prohibit killing of chicken embryos after the 6th day of incubation (i.e. sexing and culling must occur before the 6th day of incubation), as research has shown chicken embryos begin to feel pain on the 7th day of incubation.

The Law on Chick Culling

An EU directive adopted in 2009 (No. 1099/2009 on the protection of animals at the time of killing – enacted 2013, and updated December 2019) restricts permitted methods of culling to maceration (“use of a mechanical apparatus causing rapid death”) and gassing (“exposure to carbon dioxide”). There are no comparable restrictions in other parts of the world. Switzerland has enacted laws banning maceration since 1 January 2020 (gassing is still permitted). It is reported that a motion directed at the Dutch Agriculture Minister to ban chick killing in the Netherlands was adopted on 15 June 2021.

The German bill (which passed in the Bundestag on 20 May 2021) was introduced in part as a response to a ruling by the German Federal Administrative Court in June 2019. The case stemmed from a decree issued in 2013 by the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia which banned hatcheries from killing chicks. This decree was appealed by two egg hatcheries. Paragraph 1 of the German Animal Welfare Act states that “no-one shall inflict pain, suffering or harm on a pet without a reasonable cause”. The Federal Administrative Court affirmed a lower court’s ruling that killing for food production was a “reasonable cause” on a temporary basis until alternative methods of sexing are introduced. The Court’s press release stated:-

“In the light of the national objective of animal protection which was included in the German Constitution in 2002, the killing of male chicks is no longer viewed as a good reason when considered in its own right according to today’s values. The interests of animal protection weigh more heavily than the economic interest of the hatcheries…”

Hong Kong Animal Law & Protection Organisation

Male chick culling banned in Germany and France

Culling of Male Chicks

In-Ovo Sexing

The Law on Chick Culling

References