Killing chicks - poultry industry is aiming for an exit by the end of 2021
The German poultry industry wants an honest, concrete and factual solution-oriented way to end the killing of rooster chicks as quickly as possible. A phase-out by 2021/22 could be feasible with great effort if all partners along the production chain and politicians commit to a common path. For this socially desired goal, all solutions must be used and recognized - the alternatives of gender recognition in the egg, the rearing of male animals and the use of dual-purpose breeds. To this end, the German poultry industry, its partners from the food retail sector and the companies involved in research and development are striving for a joint industry platform in order to be able to offer supply chains that do not kill chicks.
"National law would only give the appearance of a solution"
On the fringes of the Franco-German conference on phasing out chick killing today at the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture, Friedrich-Otto Ripke, President of the Central Association of the German Poultry Industry e. V. (ZDG), the position of the German poultry industry: "The killing of male day-old chicks cannot be ethically justified. We want a real exit as soon as possible. However, a national law banning the killing of chicks in Germany would only give the appearance of a solution. As long as there are no real, practicable alternatives to killing chicks, hatching eggs would have to be imported from abroad – and just as many chicks would be killed as before.” A purely national law would therefore mean an unwanted shift of the animal welfare problem abroad. What is needed instead is a binding Europe-wide regulation.
Germany is a global pioneer on the road to phasing out chick killing
“Germany is a global pioneer on the way to phasing out the killing of rooster chicks. We are working resolutely on all levels to find a quick solution," Ripke appealed to the Federal Minister of Agriculture, Julia Klöckner, to acknowledge the industry's willingness to find a solution in close cooperation with the food retail trade and the companies involved in the practical implementation. "But we all have to be clear: It will mean a considerable effort."
About the ZDG
The Central Association of the German poultry industry e. V. represents as a trade roof and top organization, the interests of the German poultry industry at national and EU level towards political, official and professional organizations, the public and abroad. The approximately 8.000 members are organized in federal and state associations.
