Because male layer-breed chicks cannot lay eggs and grow too slowly for meat, approximately 7 billion male chicks are killed within hours of hatching globally each year.
Male chick culling represents one of the largest single sources of avian deaths in animal agriculture. While maceration when correctly performed causes rapid death, the scale is staggering. CO2 gassing causes measurable distress before unconsciousness. In-ovo sexing technologies offer a path to eliminate culling entirely by identifying sex at day 9-13 of incubation before hatching. Adoption of these technologies is accelerating in Europe but slower elsewhere. Consumer-supported labels and legislation are the primary drivers of change. The welfare case for transitioning to in-ovo sexing is strong.