Egg-citing Technology
LAFFlines #26
What’s at your farmer’s market or farm share this week?
Two things I’m excited (egg-cited?!) about this week:
Mushrooms, lettuce, and broccoli at the farm share
Egg technology
My favorite greens are farm-fresh, tender lettuce.
I don’t know anyone who supports animal cruelty. But I do know many people who’ve never been told about male chick “culling.” It’s disturbing to learn about, so I’m going to be brief—hang with me: There are two types of chickens in industrial farming—“layers” for eggs and “broilers” for meat. Male layers can’t lay eggs. Therefore, they’re killed within a day of hatching. The most common culling method is maceration (“shredding” or “grinding”). Over 350 million male chicks in the U.S. (and 6 billion globally) die this way each year. BUT there’s a new technology that could eliminate culling. The technology is called in-ovo sexing. In-ovo sexing allows egg producers to identify which eggs are male and which are female before the chickens hatch. The male eggs can then be destroyed* BEFORE the chickens feel pain. In-ovo sexing could save billions of chickens from dying in high-speed grinders. It could also prevent thousands of farm workers from having the traumatic job of slaughtering animals. Wouldn’t you rather identify the sex of an egg rather than cope with killing live chicks?
In-ovo sexing technology is already widely available—and spreading quickly—in Europe. According to Innovate Animal Ag, about 20% of layer chickens in Europe were sexed in-ovo in April 2024. In-ovo sexing technology came to the U.S. in late 2024. AgFunderNews reports that in-ovo sexed eggs will be available in Albertson’s, Harris Teeter, Whole Foods Market, Publix, and H-E-B in July 2025.
In the meantime…
I admit that was hoping for Lion’s Mane. But these oyster mushrooms were five star delicious.
If you’re purchasing layer chickens to raise at home, ask your breeder what happened to the males and be willing to pay more for layer chickens that have been ovo-sexed. If you’re purchasing eggs directly from a farmer or at a farmer’s market, ask the farmer about the source of their layer chickens. Stay clear of breeders or farmers who won’t or can’t tell you if their eggs/chickens involve culling males.** If you’re purchasing eggs at the grocery store, be aware of humane-washing: Food labels can be misleading. Plus, “free-range,” “cage-free,” “organic,” and “all-natural” signify nothing about the fate of male chicks. You can try contacting companies or looking up their chicken sources online. Chances are that you won’t find much. Companies would rather that you didn’t know about culling. However, one promising aspect of in-ovo sexing is that I think companies will want you (i.e., the consumer) to know when they start using it.
It’s bride season! How about a bouquet of broccoli? (Rose letting me know that I should stick with waffles…leave the wedding planning and puns to experts.)
Another promising aspect is that in-ovo sexing technology now works on brown and white eggs. At first, it was limited to brown eggs, which are not nearly as popular in the U.S. as they are in Europe. Progress!
If you want to learn more about in-ovo sexing and have time for only one article, I recommend this one.
I hope you share my excitement about present and future opportunities to improve the lives of farm animal. Let’s not waste energy on shame and guilt. It’s simple:
We “do the best we can until we know better. Then when we know better, we do better.”
AND, there’s a third thing I’m excited about this week…see the last photo.
Cheers for MOVING forward,
Abby
P.S. More LAFF updates next week!
*Okay, so in-ovo sexing dramatically improves the welfare of farmed chickens…but what about waste? Isn’t there something we can do with the male layer eggs? Innovate Animal Ag proposes that male eggs be ground up into a protein powder for pet food. I searched online (as one does), but couldn’t find any pet food made from in-ovo sexed eggs. But I’ll keep looking. Please let me know if you come across anything…hello@laffkitchen.com.
**Farming and food production should be transparent.
We bought a house! Rose is going to live on Primrose Street.
