American Egg Producers Agree to Stop Grinding Up Live Baby Chicks

The debate surrounding battery cages and free-range poultry-raising practices has been going on for some time, with activists decrying the on-average 67-square-inch cages that prevent egg-laying hens from spreading their wings in factory farms. But the cage rage has largely shielded another controversy at the core of the egg industry, one that might add a whole new taste of guilt to your eggs Benedict.

Every year, more than 3 billion male chickens are killed around the world within hours of being born, disposed of as unnecessary byproducts of a system that prizes eggs and egg-laying hens exclusively. Unable to lay eggs and lacking the genetic enhancements that define broiler chickens (those raised for meat), male chicks born in the egg-laying industry are ground alive, gassed, or otherwise killed shortly after hatching.

Now, in a move that could drastically change the egg-laying industry, the industry group United Egg Producers says they are looking to eliminate the practice, saving billions of fluffy little yellow guys from a grisly demise.

Working with The Humane League, United Egg Producers announced it will eliminate the practice of disposing of male chicks by 2020, or as soon as it is commercially or economically feasible. The group represents farmers that produce 95 percent of eggs in the United States, where more than 200 million male chicks are destroyed each year.

"United Egg Producer's decision to end its support of culling baby male chicks is historic, as it will virtually eliminate this practice in the American egg industry," said David Coman-Hidy, the executive director of The Humane League. "It is clear that chick culling will soon be a thing of the past in the United States."

The move hinges on new technology developed in Germany that will enable farmers to determine the sex of an egg long before it hatches, on the ninth day of incubation. Rather than saving the male chicks' lives, it will prevent them from being born at all—better to never have been born than ground up alive, right? Germany has also committed to using the technology and to stop culling males.

Animal welfare issues relating to the production of eggs are often pushed aside, while concerns about animals raised for meat take center stage, but that's been changing lately. McDonald's, Denny's, Taco Bell, Walmart, Kroger, ConAga, Sodexo, and other major egg buyers have all committed to switching to cage-free eggs.

Animal welfare groups still take issue with many aspects of the egg industry, but the United Egg Producers' announcement is a step toward a more humane egg.