We have asked the Federal Government if it plans to encourage chicken hatcheries in this country to adopt new developments in egg-sexing technology which will end the hatching and culling of male layer chicks. With millions of male chicks culled here every year, the adoption of egg-sexing technologies will not only address ethical concerns, but also save producers significant resources. In-ovo sexing technology is freely available to hatcheries. It offers major cost savings for hatcheries and addresses welfare concerns. France and Germany have undertaken to ban culling unwanted male chicks by the end of 2021, as part of animal welfare reforms. It is hoped that Chicken hatcheries throughout Australia will soon end the practice of euthanising day old male chicks, removing one of the key objections to poultry farms by animal activist groups.
The Canadian industry body,, Egg Farmers of Ontario has a process which it says can determine the sex of a chick before eggs are incubated. German scientists have also developed a process to identify embryos.
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