Chick culling

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Chick culling or unwanted chick killing is the process of separating and killing unwanted (male and unhealthy female) chicks for which the intensive animal farming industry has no use. It occurs widely in industrialised egg production, whether free range, organic, or battery cage. However, some certified egg farms are eliminating the practice using in-ovo sexing. Worldwide, billions of male chicks are culled each year in the egg industry. Male chicks of meat breeds and dual-purpose breeds are typically spared. Due to modern selective breeding, laying hen strains differ from meat production strains (broilers). In the United States, males are culled in egg production because males "don't lay eggs or grow large enough to become broilers." Because male chickens do not lay eggs and only those in breeding programmes are required to fertilise eggs, they are considered redundant to the egg-laying industry and are usually killed shortly after being sexed, which occurs just days after they are conceived...

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