To give you goose bumps
For our breakfast egg, male chicks are killed en masse because they have no industrial use. An in-egg sexing procedure promises to put an end to this practice in the future. Supermarkets are already offering solutions.
Each year, around three million male chicks are killed in Switzerland - usually by CO2 gasification - because they will never lay eggs or be used for broiler production. Solutions are constantly being studied to ensure that this slaughter of chicks stops soon. The German company Seleggt GmbH has developed a method of sexing chicks before they hatch. In other words, the eggs of male chicks are not incubated and therefore do not hatch. Nine days after fertilisation, the male eggs are removed for processing into feed supplements even before hatching.
Available at certain points of sale
"Respeggt" eggs are currently available in Rewe and Penny supermarkets in Berlin. By the end of the year, they should be available throughout Germany. According to Science, the system can currently sort up to 3,000 eggs an hour. The problem is that large incubators can process up to 50,000 eggs an hour. If this process is to become widespread, it will have to be possible to integrate this technology into intensive livestock farming without incurring significant additional costs. But animal rights activists are concerned: they believe that nine-day-old embryos feel pain. The scientific department of the German Parliament has stated in a study that it is not until the 15th day that pain can be felt. Opinions on this issue differ. According to Seleggt, the sensation of pain that occurs on the 9th day is less serious than that inflicted on the chick on the first day of hatching to kill it. Other non-invasive methods of sex determination are also being researched. However, these are not yet at the experimental stage.
Did you know? After several years of legal battles, the German Federal Administrative Court has just validated the industrial culling of male chicks. This practice will therefore continue until other solutions are found.
What is the situation in Switzerland?
In Switzerland, "Respeggt" or similar eggs are not yet available, confirmed Migros and Coop, which have been using dual-use chickens since 2014. This is a new breed where the females are bred for their eggs and the males for their meat. Demeter eggs from the "Coq en pâte" initiative are also offered by Coop. According to spokeswoman Rebecca Veiga, these two projects are a complete success. Migros also offers "Coq en pâte" eggs in the Zurich and Aare cooperatives and in Alnatura organic supermarkets. The "Henne und Hahn" programme promises that one male chick is fattened for every laying hen reared. In future, other co-operatives are also expected to include Demeter eggs in their range. "However, these eggs are still a niche product. At Migros, we are banking, in the medium and long term, on sexing in the egg to avoid slaughtering chicks altogether," explains spokesman Patrick Stöpper.
Free-range Swiss eggs are among Migros' best-sellers. This could change in the future, as consumer interest is definitely there. "Migros receives sporadic enquiries from consumers about this issue. Interest in sustainability issues - particularly animal welfare and resource conservation - is growing across the board."
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