Fluffy yellow day-old chicks crowded together in a grey plastic hatchery tray

Eggs · Global

Six Billion a Year: The Killing of Day-Old Male Chicks

Egg-laying breeds are bred for eggs, so their brothers have no commercial use. Most are killed on the day they hatch — though several European countries now require hatcheries to stop.

2022 · Reporting by EU law and national governments

Summary

Male chicks of egg-laying breeds cannot lay eggs and grow too slowly to be profitable as meat, so hatcheries separate them shortly after hatching and kill them. An Italian parliamentary document cites an estimate of more than six billion a year worldwide. EU law permits maceration of chicks up to 72 hours old and gassing, but Germany banned chick culling from 2022, France from 2023, and Italy has set a deadline of 31 December 2026.

0 bn+

Male chicks killed worldwide each year (estimate)

0 h

Maximum age for maceration under EU law

0

Year Germany's ban took effect

0

Italy's deadline (31 December)

Part 1

Why male chicks are killed

Commercial egg production uses hens from breeds selected to lay large numbers of eggs. Roughly half of the chicks that hatch are male. They cannot lay eggs, and these breeds grow too slowly to compete with meat-chicken breeds, so hatcheries treat them as surplus.

Chicks are sexed soon after hatching, and the males are separated and killed. An Italian parliamentary question in 2025 cited an estimate of more than six billion male chicks killed worldwide each year. It is a widely quoted figure, but there is no official global count.

Part 2

How they are killed

EU Regulation 1099/2009 on the protection of animals at the time of killing lists the methods hatcheries may use. They include maceration — instant destruction in a mechanical device — for chicks up to 72 hours old, and exposure to gases such as carbon dioxide, each subject to technical conditions.

Both methods remain legal across the EU unless a member state sets stricter national rules, as several now have.

Part 3

Countries that have banned it

Germany's ban on killing male chicks took effect on 1 January 2022. France followed with a decree in February 2022 that gave hatcheries until 31 December 2022 to adapt, so its prohibition has applied since January 2023, with some exceptions. Italy has legislated to end the practice by 31 December 2026.

In the United States, the industry group United Egg Producers said in 2016 that it wanted to end the culling of male chicks after hatching. In a 2021 update it said a solution that met US requirements for scale was not yet available.

Part 4

The alternative: sexing the egg

In-ovo sexing determines the sex of the embryo inside the egg, so that eggs containing males can be removed from incubation before they hatch. Germany's agriculture ministry has funded research into these methods as part of its phase-out of chick culling.

Several companies now sell the technology. In August 2023 the European Investment Bank signed €40 million of financing for In Ovo, a Dutch company developing egg-sexing machines.

Questions

Questions people ask

Why are male chicks killed in the egg industry?

Because they cannot lay eggs, and laying breeds grow too slowly to be raised profitably for meat. Hatcheries separate them after hatching and kill them.

Is chick culling legal?

It is legal in most countries, including under EU rules, which allow maceration and gassing. Germany (2022) and France (2023) have national bans, and Italy has set a deadline of 31 December 2026.

What is in-ovo sexing?

Technology that identifies the sex of the embryo inside the egg so that eggs containing males can be removed before hatching, avoiding the killing of live male chicks.

Sources

Where this reporting comes from

Figures on this page come from the official reports, laws and peer-reviewed studies listed here. Campaign groups are cited only for what their own investigations recorded.

Facts reviewed: 28 October 2026

All investigations