It’s not a good outlook if you’re born male in the hen world. The experts from the British Hen Welfare Trust explains what happens to male chicks <\/p>
Despite the cute image of fluffy yellow chicks that comes to mind, the outcome for male chicks in the egg industry is a harsh and often overlooked reality both here in the UK and around the world. We spoke to the\u00a0British Hen Welfare Trust<\/a><\/em>\u00a0to find out more\u2026<\/strong><\/p> Every year, millions of chicks are hatched around the country. But as male chicks don\u2019t lay eggs, they have a very different future to their female counterparts. Male chicks are usually dispatched shortly after hatching in a process known as chick culling.<\/p> This mass killing of male chicks, often within hours of hatching, is done in various ways including gassing, maceration and suffocation, to efficiently and economically dispose of what is seen as an unwanted byproduct of the egg-laying industry.<\/p> With consumers becoming more conscious about where their food comes from and the implications of their choices, the issue of chick culling has gained more attention. Encouragingly, a shift towards more sustainable and ethical farming practices could help reduce the need for mass chick culling in the future.<\/p> In recent years, efforts have been made to find alternative solutions to chick culling, such as raising the male chicks for meat (albeit less efficiently as males don\u2019t grow as quickly as females) or switching\u00a0to ‘dual-purpose’\u00a0breeds (ones that lay a relatively moderate number of eggs and grow to a moderate size). <\/p> More promising is the development of in-ovo\u00a0(in the egg) sexing technologies that can determine the sex of the chick before hatching so that it can be destroyed painlessly. This technology is now beginning to gain traction across Europe, which is at least encouraging news.\u00a0<\/p> Male chicks don\u2019t fare much better when it comes to school hatching programmes, which is why the BHWT advises against this practice. Here, fertilised eggs are brought in for pupils to learn about the hatching process. On the surface, this might seem like a good way to offer children an engaging and interactive experience, but teachers often don\u2019t realise the ethical implications.\u00a0<\/p> Not only does the care and attention the fertilised eggs receive differ a lot from that of a mother hen, once the chicks hatch and the scheme\u00a0is\u00a0completed, chicks will either be returned to the company where their fate is uncertain, or they may be rehomed by someone in school. Even for those chicks that find a home, the cockerels are usually unwanted. Teaching children\u00a0that\u00a0it\u2019s ok to have an experience with young sentient creatures, and then discard them, is not a positive educational message.\u00a0<\/p> The fate of male chicks in the UK and around the world is a stark reminder of the ethical complexities within food production. Significantly, countries are beginning to ban chick culling. Germany outlawed the practice in 2021, followed by France later the same year. Italy has since followed suit, and this year the UK\u2019s Animal Welfare Committee recommended a ban, although this is not legally binding.\u00a0<\/p> Looking to buy a coop? Check out\u00a0our guide to the\u00a0best chicken coops to buy<\/a>\u00a0and for inspiration about which hens will best suit your set up, check out our\u00a0guide to\u00a0chicken breeds: 12 of the best for beginner keepers<\/a>.<\/p> Read more about chickens<\/strong><\/p> The British Hen Welfare Trust is the UK\u2019s largest charity for commercial laying hens. Each year they rehome around 60,000 hens as family\u00a0pets\u00a0that would otherwise have been destined for slaughter.\u00a0 They have approximately 1,400 volunteers and almost 50 collection points across the UK. They also have an associate charity in France, Champs Libres aux Poules, which rehomes thousands of commercial laying hens as pets too.<\/p> Main image: Getty images<\/p> <\/body><\/html>\n It’s not a good outlook if you’re born male in the hen world. 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The experts from the British Hen Welfare Trust explains what happens to male chicks","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/38973"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/38974"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38973"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38973"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}What happens to male chicks?<\/h2>
Is there another option?<\/h2>
What about male chicks in school hatching programmes?<\/h2>
What\u2019s the future for male chicks?<\/strong><\/h2>
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