UK retailers blocking moves to end the killing of day-old male chicks

theguardian.com:

UK retailers are blocking moves to end the killing of millions of day-old male chicks each year, farmers and breeding companies have said.

The industrial-scale culling of unwanted chicks is common practice around the world, with 330 million males slaughtered by crushing or gassing each year in Europe, according to campaigners, 29 million of those in the UK.

The industry has no use for cockerels that cannot lay eggs or be fattened up quickly enough to be sold for meat.

But it is possible for farmers to avoid the mass culling through breeding technology already in use in France and Germany.

Germany brought in legislation to outlaw the killing of day-old male chicks at the start of 2022, while French poultry farmers have until the end of this year to comply with a new law banning the practice. The UK has no such legislation.

Respeggt, a German service provider of in-ovo egg sexing, uses its patented Seleggt process to identify and prevent the hatching of male chicks. On the ninth day of incubation, a small drop of liquid is extracted from the eggs and analysed. Once hatcheries know which eggs will hatch into male chicks, they can repurpose them for other uses.

Breeding companies say UK supermarkets are, so far, not keen to promote eggs that don’t contribute to the killing of male chicks alongside their existing stock.

Carmen Uphoff, Respeggt’s chief operating officer, said: “We are trying to enter the UK, but have so far been unsuccessful.

“Retail will say there is no consumer demand, then the hatcheries and packing centres will say there is no demand from retailers and it goes around in circles.

“We are trying to talk to everyone, but the trouble with the UK is people are not aware [of where eggs come from]. We are trying to adopt