The industrial slaughter of unwanted chicks is common practice around the world, with 330 million males slaughtered by crushing or gassing every year in Europe, according to campaigners, 29 million of them in the UK. The industry has no use for roosters that cannot lay eggs or fatten quickly enough to be sold for meat. But it is possible for farmers to avoid mass slaughter through breeding technology already in use in France and Germany. Germany introduced legislation to ban the killing of day-old male chicks in early 2022, while French poultry farmers have until the end of this year to comply with a new law banning the practice. The UK has no such legislation. Respeggt, a German in-ovo egg sexing service company, uses the patented Seleggt process to identify and prevent male chicks from hatching. On the ninth day of incubation, a small drop of fluid is extracted from the eggs and analyzed. Once hatcheries know which eggs will hatch into male chicks, they can reuse them for other uses. Breeding companies say that UK supermarkets are, so far, reluctant to promote eggs that do not contribute to the killing of male chicks alongside their existing stock. Carmen Uphoff, chief operating officer of Respeggt, said: “We are trying to get into the UK but so far we have not been successful. “Retail will say there’s no consumer demand, then hatcheries and packhouses will say there’s no retailer demand and it cycles. “We try to talk to everyone, but the problem with the UK is that people don’t know [of where eggs come from]. We’re trying to adopt different strategies and learn in a small way how the UK works.” The UK’s first chicken flock is sourced from eggs using the Respeggt system. Photo: Christopher Thomond/The Guardian He added: “I have suggested that you start with just one brand that is ‘chick-free’ on the shelves, but, again, the response is that the customer will understand that all the other eggs are ‘chick-free’ and they won’t they did”. I didn’t know that before.” Piggotts Poultry Breeders, a small family business in Hertfordshire, is the only UK company selling laying hens raised from eggs using Respeggt’s technology – which owner Richard Piggott described as a “shame”. Piggott has sold about 6,000 chickens so far to small-scale and hobbyist chicken farmers. He said the added cost of “no-kill eggs” was not as much of an issue as retailers fearing reputational damage as consumers better understand the egg supply chain. “I thought everyone in the UK would really, really want to do it and that hasn’t happened,” he said. “We contacted Respeggt because we couldn’t get the birds to the UK. We asked to buy some chicks from a hatchery in the Netherlands that has the technology to do the sexing inside the eggs. “They came to see us last year and explained that they had been to the UK two years before to talk to the big hatcheries and the big players in the industry, but they just weren’t interested for various reasons.” While most of the birds Piggott has sold end up in people’s gardens, he admitted it is “disappointing” that commercial egg producers are failing to embrace the technology readily available on the market to avoid the mass culling of chicks. He is also pessimistic that anything will change in the short term and said it should be “consumer led” by people writing to MPs and their retailers. “It was always difficult before [the cost of living crisis] but I understood that once the egg hit the supermarket shelf, the price difference would be between 5p and 8p, which is not huge,” he said. The British Retail Consortium said retailers are continuing to work with farmers to improve the welfare of laying hens and will “continue to consider all research that could further improve the high standards in place today”. Chicken farmer Richard Piggott is disappointed that commercial egg producers in the UK have not adopted sex-in-egg technology. Photo: Christopher Thomond/The Guardian In France, the government has committed €10m (£8.65m) to gender testing machines for commercial hatcheries, as well as advocating for a fairer distribution of costs across the supply chain. “We are in the process of finding a solution to the destruction of day-old male chicks here in France,” said Pierre Lanckriet, who works at a hatchery near Amiens in northern France. “We know it will be banned from January 1 next year and we have been preparing for it since the beginning of 2021. “Since it was an obligation of the German and French governments, many companies have started working in this area and the price of the technology has dropped significantly.” There are several methods, varying in accuracy and cost, on the market, including egg MRI to determine sex organs after 12 days, feather color detection and in-ovo sex. Italy could be next to end the practice of slaughtering day-old male chicks, with plans to enact a law by the end of 2026. The Guardian contacted the British Egg Industry Council for comment, but it did not respond. Subscribe to the Animals Farmed monthly update to receive a roundup of the biggest farming and food stories around the world and follow our investigations. You can send us your stories and thoughts to [email protected]
title: “Uk Retailers Block Moves To End Culling Of Day Old Male Chicks Cultivation Klmat” ShowToc: true date: “2022-12-19” author: “Luz Erickson”
The industrial slaughter of unwanted chicks is common practice around the world, with 330 million males slaughtered by crushing or gassing every year in Europe, according to campaigners, 29 million of them in the UK. The industry has no use for roosters that cannot lay eggs or fatten quickly enough to be sold for meat. But it is possible for farmers to avoid mass slaughter through breeding technology already in use in France and Germany. Germany introduced legislation to ban the killing of day-old male chicks in early 2022, while French poultry farmers have until the end of this year to comply with a new law banning the practice. The UK has no such legislation. Respeggt, a German in-ovo egg sexing service company, uses the patented Seleggt process to identify and prevent male chicks from hatching. On the ninth day of incubation, a small drop of fluid is extracted from the eggs and analyzed. Once hatcheries know which eggs will hatch into male chicks, they can reuse them for other uses. Breeding companies say that UK supermarkets are, so far, reluctant to promote eggs that do not contribute to the killing of male chicks alongside their existing stock. Carmen Uphoff, chief operating officer of Respeggt, said: “We are trying to get into the UK but so far we have not been successful. “Retail will say there’s no consumer demand, then hatcheries and packhouses will say there’s no retailer demand and it cycles. “We try to talk to everyone, but the problem with the UK is that people don’t know [of where eggs come from]. We’re trying to adopt different strategies and learn in a small way how the UK works.” The UK’s first chicken flock is sourced from eggs using the Respeggt system. Photo: Christopher Thomond/The Guardian He added: “I have suggested that you start with just one brand that is ‘chick-free’ on the shelves, but, again, the response is that the customer will understand that all the other eggs are ‘chick-free’ and they won’t they did”. I didn’t know that before.” Piggotts Poultry Breeders, a small family business in Hertfordshire, is the only UK company selling laying hens raised from eggs using Respeggt’s technology – which owner Richard Piggott described as a “shame”. Piggott has sold about 6,000 chickens so far to small-scale and hobbyist chicken farmers. He said the added cost of “no-kill eggs” was not as much of an issue as retailers fearing reputational damage as consumers better understand the egg supply chain. “I thought everyone in the UK would really, really want to do it and that hasn’t happened,” he said. “We contacted Respeggt because we couldn’t get the birds to the UK. We asked to buy some chicks from a hatchery in the Netherlands that has the technology to do the sexing inside the eggs. “They came to see us last year and explained that they had been to the UK two years before to talk to the big hatcheries and the big players in the industry, but they just weren’t interested for various reasons.” While most of the birds Piggott has sold end up in people’s gardens, he admitted it is “disappointing” that commercial egg producers are failing to embrace the technology readily available on the market to avoid the mass culling of chicks. He is also pessimistic that anything will change in the short term and said it should be “consumer led” by people writing to MPs and their retailers. “It was always difficult before [the cost of living crisis] but I understood that once the egg hit the supermarket shelf, the price difference would be between 5p and 8p, which is not huge,” he said. The British Retail Consortium said retailers are continuing to work with farmers to improve the welfare of laying hens and will “continue to consider all research that could further improve the high standards in place today”. Chicken farmer Richard Piggott is disappointed that commercial egg producers in the UK have not adopted sex-in-egg technology. Photo: Christopher Thomond/The Guardian In France, the government has committed €10m (£8.65m) to gender testing machines for commercial hatcheries, as well as advocating for a fairer distribution of costs across the supply chain. “We are in the process of finding a solution to the destruction of day-old male chicks here in France,” said Pierre Lanckriet, who works at a hatchery near Amiens in northern France. “We know it will be banned from January 1 next year and we have been preparing for it since the beginning of 2021. “Since it was an obligation of the German and French governments, many companies have started working in this area and the price of the technology has dropped significantly.” There are several methods, varying in accuracy and cost, on the market, including egg MRI to determine sex organs after 12 days, feather color detection and in-ovo sex. Italy could be next to end the practice of slaughtering day-old male chicks, with plans to enact a law by the end of 2026. The Guardian contacted the British Egg Industry Council for comment, but it did not respond. Subscribe to the Animals Farmed monthly update to receive a roundup of the biggest farming and food stories around the world and follow our investigations. You can send us your stories and thoughts to [email protected]
title: “Uk Retailers Block Moves To End Culling Of Day Old Male Chicks Cultivation Klmat” ShowToc: true date: “2022-12-13” author: “Ruth Obryon”
The industrial slaughter of unwanted chicks is common practice around the world, with 330 million males slaughtered by crushing or gassing every year in Europe, according to campaigners, 29 million of them in the UK. The industry has no use for roosters that cannot lay eggs or fatten quickly enough to be sold for meat. But it is possible for farmers to avoid mass slaughter through breeding technology already in use in France and Germany. Germany introduced legislation to ban the killing of day-old male chicks in early 2022, while French poultry farmers have until the end of this year to comply with a new law banning the practice. The UK has no such legislation. Respeggt, a German in-ovo egg sexing service company, uses the patented Seleggt process to identify and prevent male chicks from hatching. On the ninth day of incubation, a small drop of fluid is extracted from the eggs and analyzed. Once hatcheries know which eggs will hatch into male chicks, they can reuse them for other uses. Breeding companies say that UK supermarkets are, so far, reluctant to promote eggs that do not contribute to the killing of male chicks alongside their existing stock. Carmen Uphoff, chief operating officer of Respeggt, said: “We are trying to get into the UK but so far we have not been successful. “Retail will say there’s no consumer demand, then hatcheries and packhouses will say there’s no retailer demand and it cycles. “We try to talk to everyone, but the problem with the UK is that people don’t know [of where eggs come from]. We’re trying to adopt different strategies and learn in a small way how the UK works.” The UK’s first chicken flock is sourced from eggs using the Respeggt system. Photo: Christopher Thomond/The Guardian He added: “I have suggested that you start with just one brand that is ‘chick-free’ on the shelves, but, again, the response is that the customer will understand that all the other eggs are ‘chick-free’ and they won’t they did”. I didn’t know that before.” Piggotts Poultry Breeders, a small family business in Hertfordshire, is the only UK company selling laying hens raised from eggs using Respeggt’s technology – which owner Richard Piggott described as a “shame”. Piggott has sold about 6,000 chickens so far to small-scale and hobbyist chicken farmers. He said the added cost of “no-kill eggs” was not as much of an issue as retailers fearing reputational damage as consumers better understand the egg supply chain. “I thought everyone in the UK would really, really want to do it and that hasn’t happened,” he said. “We contacted Respeggt because we couldn’t get the birds to the UK. We asked to buy some chicks from a hatchery in the Netherlands that has the technology to do the sexing inside the eggs. “They came to see us last year and explained that they had been to the UK two years before to talk to the big hatcheries and the big players in the industry, but they just weren’t interested for various reasons.” While most of the birds Piggott has sold end up in people’s gardens, he admitted it is “disappointing” that commercial egg producers are failing to embrace the technology readily available on the market to avoid the mass culling of chicks. He is also pessimistic that anything will change in the short term and said it should be “consumer led” by people writing to MPs and their retailers. “It was always difficult before [the cost of living crisis] but I understood that once the egg hit the supermarket shelf, the price difference would be between 5p and 8p, which is not huge,” he said. The British Retail Consortium said retailers are continuing to work with farmers to improve the welfare of laying hens and will “continue to consider all research that could further improve the high standards in place today”. Chicken farmer Richard Piggott is disappointed that commercial egg producers in the UK have not adopted sex-in-egg technology. Photo: Christopher Thomond/The Guardian In France, the government has committed €10m (£8.65m) to gender testing machines for commercial hatcheries, as well as advocating for a fairer distribution of costs across the supply chain. “We are in the process of finding a solution to the destruction of day-old male chicks here in France,” said Pierre Lanckriet, who works at a hatchery near Amiens in northern France. “We know it will be banned from January 1 next year and we have been preparing for it since the beginning of 2021. “Since it was an obligation of the German and French governments, many companies have started working in this area and the price of the technology has dropped significantly.” There are several methods, varying in accuracy and cost, on the market, including egg MRI to determine sex organs after 12 days, feather color detection and in-ovo sex. Italy could be next to end the practice of slaughtering day-old male chicks, with plans to enact a law by the end of 2026. The Guardian contacted the British Egg Industry Council for comment, but it did not respond. Subscribe to the Animals Farmed monthly update to receive a roundup of the biggest farming and food stories around the world and follow our investigations. You can send us your stories and thoughts to [email protected]
title: “Uk Retailers Block Moves To End Culling Of Day Old Male Chicks Cultivation Klmat” ShowToc: true date: “2022-12-13” author: “Nieves Runion”
The industrial slaughter of unwanted chicks is common practice around the world, with 330 million males slaughtered by crushing or gassing every year in Europe, according to campaigners, 29 million of them in the UK. The industry has no use for roosters that cannot lay eggs or fatten quickly enough to be sold for meat. But it is possible for farmers to avoid mass slaughter through breeding technology already in use in France and Germany. Germany introduced legislation to ban the killing of day-old male chicks in early 2022, while French poultry farmers have until the end of this year to comply with a new law banning the practice. The UK has no such legislation. Respeggt, a German in-ovo egg sexing service company, uses the patented Seleggt process to identify and prevent male chicks from hatching. On the ninth day of incubation, a small drop of fluid is extracted from the eggs and analyzed. Once hatcheries know which eggs will hatch into male chicks, they can reuse them for other uses. Breeding companies say that UK supermarkets are, so far, reluctant to promote eggs that do not contribute to the killing of male chicks alongside their existing stock. Carmen Uphoff, chief operating officer of Respeggt, said: “We are trying to get into the UK but so far we have not been successful. “Retail will say there’s no consumer demand, then hatcheries and packhouses will say there’s no retailer demand and it cycles. “We try to talk to everyone, but the problem with the UK is that people don’t know [of where eggs come from]. We’re trying to adopt different strategies and learn in a small way how the UK works.” The UK’s first chicken flock is sourced from eggs using the Respeggt system. Photo: Christopher Thomond/The Guardian He added: “I have suggested that you start with just one brand that is ‘chick-free’ on the shelves, but, again, the response is that the customer will understand that all the other eggs are ‘chick-free’ and they won’t they did”. I didn’t know that before.” Piggotts Poultry Breeders, a small family business in Hertfordshire, is the only UK company selling laying hens raised from eggs using Respeggt’s technology – which owner Richard Piggott described as a “shame”. Piggott has sold about 6,000 chickens so far to small-scale and hobbyist chicken farmers. He said the added cost of “no-kill eggs” was not as much of an issue as retailers fearing reputational damage as consumers better understand the egg supply chain. “I thought everyone in the UK would really, really want to do it and that hasn’t happened,” he said. “We contacted Respeggt because we couldn’t get the birds to the UK. We asked to buy some chicks from a hatchery in the Netherlands that has the technology to do the sexing inside the eggs. “They came to see us last year and explained that they had been to the UK two years before to talk to the big hatcheries and the big players in the industry, but they just weren’t interested for various reasons.” While most of the birds Piggott has sold end up in people’s gardens, he admitted it is “disappointing” that commercial egg producers are failing to embrace the technology readily available on the market to avoid the mass culling of chicks. He is also pessimistic that anything will change in the short term and said it should be “consumer led” by people writing to MPs and their retailers. “It was always difficult before [the cost of living crisis] but I understood that once the egg hit the supermarket shelf, the price difference would be between 5p and 8p, which is not huge,” he said. The British Retail Consortium said retailers are continuing to work with farmers to improve the welfare of laying hens and will “continue to consider all research that could further improve the high standards in place today”. Chicken farmer Richard Piggott is disappointed that commercial egg producers in the UK have not adopted sex-in-egg technology. Photo: Christopher Thomond/The Guardian In France, the government has committed €10m (£8.65m) to gender testing machines for commercial hatcheries, as well as advocating for a fairer distribution of costs across the supply chain. “We are in the process of finding a solution to the destruction of day-old male chicks here in France,” said Pierre Lanckriet, who works at a hatchery near Amiens in northern France. “We know it will be banned from January 1 next year and we have been preparing for it since the beginning of 2021. “Since it was an obligation of the German and French governments, many companies have started working in this area and the price of the technology has dropped significantly.” There are several methods, varying in accuracy and cost, on the market, including egg MRI to determine sex organs after 12 days, feather color detection and in-ovo sex. Italy could be next to end the practice of slaughtering day-old male chicks, with plans to enact a law by the end of 2026. The Guardian contacted the British Egg Industry Council for comment, but it did not respond. Subscribe to the Animals Farmed monthly update to receive a roundup of the biggest farming and food stories around the world and follow our investigations. You can send us your stories and thoughts to [email protected]
