Male chicks in laying hen strains cannot lay eggs and have not been bred for meat production. Their killing at hatch — by maceration or gassing — is one of the most significant welfare events in egg production.
Male chick culling represents a welfare problem with a clear technical solution: in-ovo sexing technology can identify egg sex before incubation, preventing the development and subsequent killing of male chick embryos entirely. The welfare question is whether an early-stage embryo has morally relevant experiences; most welfare scientists consider day-1 embryo intervention less concerning than killing day-old chicks that are clearly conscious. Germany's ban on post-hatch culling, requiring in-ovo sexing as the alternative, demonstrates that the transition is commercially and technically viable. The cost premium for in-ovo sexed eggs is modest and declining as the technology scales. Dual-purpose breeds offer a different approach — avoiding specialized strains entirely — but require a different market structure for both egg and meat products.