Question for written answer E-006133-18
to the Commission
Rule 130
Harald Vilimsky (ENF)

Every year over 300 million male chicks in the EU are cruelly shredded or gassed with carbon dioxide as soon as they hatch because they are of no economic benefit to the farmer.

Whereas female chicks are used as ‘turbo hens’ to lay eggs, their ‘brothers’ do not develop enough meat to be suited for fattening, or else they are deemed too expensive to raise. On average, 50% of all chicks are killed.

1. Does the Commission plan on banning this inhumane and unnecessary mass killing of newly hatched male chicks?

If it does not wish to take a blanket approach:

2. Does the Commission plan on subsidising the ‘Seleggt process’, which can determine a chick’s gender before it hatches, meaning that male chicks do not have to hatch only to be shredded immediately afterwards?

3. Does the Commission plan on providing further funding to reduce the unnecessary killing of animals, e.g. agricultural subsidies for farmers who raise male chicks despite the lack of an economic incentive?