June 14, 2019

Anna Murray 

Before an option is found, a German court has ruled on Thursday that the poultry industry is temporarily let to cull unwanted male chicks. It is estimated around 45 million of them a year in Germany.  

Baby male chicks are not allowed to grow up, just because they are useless to both egg and poultry industries. It is common not to save male chicks in industrialized farming worldwide.  

According to Judge Renate Philipp, there were "reasonable grounds" not to stop the operation before methods are ready to test the embryo sex in an egg. Currently, several methods are developing as the alternative to remove the male eggs before hatching. However, not one of them is ready to use in the industry. 

The German Minister for Agriculture, Julia Klöckner, requested to forbid the mass-killing practice and said it is "ethically unacceptable". She indicated that €8 million had been spent in searching alternatives. German Federal Ministry and Food and Agriculture told CNN, the rule will be discontinued when the "Seleggt technology" is set to apply around Germany next year and at the same time the Animal Welfare Act will function.  

Photo:Webshot.