Germany to ban culling of day old male chicks next year

German Agriculture Minister Julia Klockner has announced that the culling of day old male chicks will be outlawed from next year. Speaking to mark the start of Germany’s International Green Week, Klockner said the Cabinet had signed a draft law prohibiting the mass culling of day old male chicks, making the country the first in the world to do so. Farmers will be required to use technology to prevent male chicks from being born in the first place, by identifying the sex of the animal before it has hatched. From 2024, the draft law will also require poultry famers to use methods that work at an earlier stage in the incubation process, preventing pain for the unhatched embryos. At present, about 45 million male chicks are culled in Germany every year as they are neither suitable for meat production nor for the layer industry. Read more