The chairman of the German poultry industry believes that European rules against killing male chicks must be established as soon as possible. Chairman Ripke said that the German poultry sector is beginning to experience disadvantages due to the ban on chick killing that was introduced earlier this year in Germany.
The new German law protecting male chicks has already ensured that millions of animals are no longer killed immediately after hatching, said Friedrich-Otto Pike in an interview with German newspapers. “The new law will save about 40 million male chicks from death in Germany this year,” he said.
Since the ban took effect in January, the German egg trade has been using modern technology to determine within nine days whether an egg will hatch a hen or a rooster, Ripke reports.
The chairman of the association called for uniform European rules. The German law “allows too many opportunities for evasion.” Male chicks can, for example, be exported across the border and killed there,” Ripke said. Because in Poland, the Netherlands, Italy, and France, killing chicks is still permitted.
German breeders would have competitive disadvantages compared to other European countries. Killing male chicks remains legal in Switzerland, but only by gas. The shredding of male chicks has been banned there since early 2020.
Last summer, France and Germany called for a European ban on killing day-old male chicks. Together with Austria, Spain, Ireland, Luxembourg, and Portugal, the agriculture ministers of these countries have already submitted a proposal to Brussels. So far, little has been done with it. The Netherlands believes that research into new technology for sex determination of eggs should come first.