Male Chicks – A ‘Waste’ By Product Of The Egg Industry to the tune of 65,000 lives EVERY DAY.

26 July 2024

GAIA

Male chicks who cannot lay eggs are considered a waste product of the egg industry, condemned to a cruel death as soon as they hatch. In Belgium alone, 65,000 chicks are killed every day, adding up to 24 million per year.

The chicks are killed in shocking ways, such as being tossed into a macerating machine that crushes them, or being gassed to death en masse. 

Only one in three Belgian consumers are aware of this practice, according to a research by GAIA, which is asking citizens to participate in an audio petition to call for an end to this practice.

The petition asks citizens to record themselves crowing like a rooster, in order to express their outcry at this cruel practice and call for more respectful treatment of chickens. 

The recordings will be collated to create a powerful message for legislators. 

Alternatives exist

In-ovo sexing allows producers to determine the sex of the chick in the egg before birth, allowing for sorting before the embryo becomes susceptible. This technique is already used in some Belgian hatcheries. Countries like Germany and France have already taken steps to abolish chick culling, moving to this technology instead.

The survey by GAIA shows that 82% of Belgians believe that supermarkets should only obtain their supplies from producers who do not cull chicks. It also indicates that 82% of Belgians are ready to pay 2 euro cents more for each egg from such a producer. In addition, more than half of Belgians are ready to change brands and turn to a more respectful supermarket, which would offer eggs without grinding or gassing.

Leave a call to save the chicks

The audio petition will pass through twelve major cities in Belgium, asking citizens to share their cry on social networks in order to raise awareness among those around them. 

Supermarkets continue to sell eggs from chickens whose chicks are cruelly gassed or crushed alive after birth. However, there are effective technologies to prevent this massacre. It is therefore high time that they take their responsibilities, while responding to the wishes of the vast majority of Belgian consumers.

Sébastien De Jonge, Director of Operations, GAIA

Regards Mark