Male layer breed chicks are killed at hatch because they cannot lay eggs and grow slowly, representing a scale welfare issue.
Male chick culling is a consequence of the industrial separation of layer and broiler breeds. Male layer chicks are economically worthless in commercial production. While they have very limited sensory development at hatch, their mass killing represents a welfare problem at enormous scale. In-ovo sexing technology offers an alternative that eliminates the need for post-hatch culling entirely.