The Egg Industry's Hidden Problem

Understanding Male Chick Culling and How Consumers Can Help

Most consumers have no idea how the egg industry actually works.

People see cartons of eggs at grocery stores, but very few understand the system behind them.

One of the biggest hidden issues in the egg industry is male chick culling.

Why Are Male Chicks Culled?

In the egg industry, female chicks are raised to become egg laying hens. Male chicks do not lay eggs and are generally not profitable for egg production.

Because of this, an estimated 7 billion male chicks are culled globally every year, often shortly after hatching.

Many people are shocked to learn this happens because they assume eggs are separate from the killing of animals. But the egg industry still depends on hatcheries producing female chicks to become laying hens.

Where Does Culling Usually Happen?

Most culling happens at the hatchery stage.

The process usually works like this:

  1. Breeding farms produce fertilized eggs.
  2. Those eggs are sent to hatcheries.
  3. Hatcheries incubate and hatch the chicks.
  4. Female chicks are sent to egg laying farms.
  5. Male chicks are often culled.

This means hatcheries are one of the most important leverage points for improving the system.

Breeding Farms, Hatcheries, and Egg Laying Farms

One reason this issue is confusing is that the egg industry has multiple stages.

Breeding farms keep male and female chickens to produce fertilized eggs. Hatcheries receive those eggs, incubate them, hatch chicks, and separate males from females. Egg laying farms then raise the female hens that produce the eggs sold to grocery stores, restaurants, and consumers.

So when people buy eggs from a local farm, that local farm may not be the hatchery. Many local farms buy female chicks from an outside hatchery. That means the hens may live in better conditions locally, but the farm may still indirectly rely on a hatchery where male chicks were culled.

Local can be better, but local does not automatically mean no male chick culling.

What Is In Ovo Sexing?

One of the biggest improvements currently being developed is called in ovo sexing.

This technology allows hatcheries to identify whether an egg contains a male or female embryo before hatching. Most systems identify sex around day 8 to day 13 of incubation, while chicks usually hatch around day 21.

Instead of allowing male chicks to hatch and then culling them shortly afterward, hatcheries can stop incubation earlier in development once male eggs are identified.

Many people view this as a meaningful improvement over current systems.

Why Is This Mainly Happening at Hatcheries?

Right now, most practical progress is happening at the hatchery level. That is because hatcheries are where eggs are incubated, sexed, hatched, and sorted.

There are also discussions around breeding level genetic technologies that could potentially increase the percentage of female chicks produced in the future. However, these approaches remain more controversial due to concerns around genetic modification, regulation, ethics, and consumer acceptance.

Because of this, one realistic near term improvement may be encouraging hatcheries and egg companies to adopt in ovo systems more widely while also continuing to explore other ways to reduce male chick culling.

Where Do Poor Living Conditions Usually Happen?

The worst long term living condition concerns usually happen at the egg laying farm stage, also called the layer farm stage.

This is where hens spend most of their lives producing eggs.

Problems can include overcrowding, cages, limited movement, lack of outdoor access, stress, aggression, poor air quality, beak trimming in some systems, and industrial confinement.

That is why labels like cage free, free range, pasture raised, organic, and humane certified often focus on the living conditions of the hens.

However, these labels do not necessarily tell you what happened at the hatchery. A carton can be pasture raised or humane certified and still come from hatcheries where male chicks were culled.

Does Local Automatically Mean Better?

Not necessarily.

Many local farms provide better living conditions, allow outdoor access, and operate on a smaller scale. That can be a real improvement for laying hens.

However, many local farms still purchase chicks from hatcheries where male chick culling may occur.

That is why consumers should ask questions rather than assume.

Good Questions To Ask Egg Farms

What Can Consumers Do To Help?

If consumers begin caring about these issues publicly, companies will have greater incentive to improve.

Realistic progress may not solve everything overnight, but it can still reduce suffering for millions of animals over time.

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