Swiss government bans 'shredding' of male chicks

Switzerland is banning the practice of "shredding" newly hatched male chicks, citing progress in techniques to determine chicks' gender in the egg.

The decided Wednesday that the ban will take effect Jan. 1.

It said that, in recent years, the practice of putting live chicks through a lethal "mechanical procedure" has been used by relatively few hatcheries.

Killing them by using will still be allowed.

The government said that methods to determine chicks' gender in the egg are not yet widely available but several companies and universities are working hard to develop a "commercial method."

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Citation: Swiss government bans 'shredding' of male chicks (2019, October 23) retrieved 28 March 2024 from https://phys.org/news/2019-10-swiss-shredding-male-chicks.html
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