Bye bye boys

[HenriettaPizzaNolan]

When they shine the blue light on the egg the male eggs die, I don't really see how this solves the problem. They are simply killing the boys before they are born.

Right. So I think it highlights that once again, the main motivator here is money. I don't think they would have put all the money into researching in developing this if they don't think they would make it back. They are essentially doing the same thing (killing the males), but in a way that will save hatcheries money. Hatcheries will pay to use this technology to save that money in the long run, and their PR will look good because it will seem like they are doing it for animal rights.

I'm all for animal rights, but tbh, this doesn't seem any better to me. When I've seen the videos of the chicks going into the shredder I think of how quick that must be. Do we know if the embryo suffers and feels pain as the blue light kills it? I doubt they will pay money to research that because the bird isn't cute and fluffy yet.

To me this just opens up a whole can of worms that does not need to be opened. It's one of those things that companies and countries are going to do to look good, but it's the same thing they have always done. ONLY benefit I see here is possibly driving down the cost of eggs. But the negatives are still unknown.

 

[JedJackson]

Then they ought to find a use for otherwise unmarketable eggs.

Now I’m curious as to what makes more nutritious dog and cat food, an egg or a chick…

I don't know what would happen to the male eggs. It would be good to know how far into the incubation process the eggs are blue lighted. That makes a huge difference.

 

[Florida Bullfrog]

They probably just throw away the eggs. It is not really an improvement for the chickens, they are still killing millions of birds. It just helps the business make more profit.

That’s one of my concerns as well. This may be just a profit grab that is being spun as an improvement in animal welfare, when it really isn’t.

And then dealing with whether the genetically weaker males can somehow make it into the wider gene pool. Suppose some of these males don’t get lit up with the blue light, can those genes be passed on?

 

[RoyalChick]

I dunno. I am much less worried about killing an embryo in a chicken egg than I am in killing a newly hatched chick. That feels to me like a massive difference.
I too am more concerned about unexpected consequences - like are the hens going to be completely normal.

 

[Silkiesaz]

I dunno. I am much less worried about killing an embryo in a chicken egg than I am in killing a newly hatched chick. That feels to me like a massive difference.
I too am more concerned about unexpected consequences - like are the hens going to be completely normal.

Thats fair too, did the people who came up with this think of that? How will the altering affect the hens hatched from the eggs? And what about the hens laying the eggs. Do they all have the same quality of life as normal chickens?

 

[Cat Ballou]

It seems that industrial chicken breeders have finally solved the problem of how to produce only pullets
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-63937438
It will, apparently, save millions of male chicks from death by disposal just after they hatch, and save the firms who buy into it the wages of the chick sexers and the plant currently needed to process unwanted males.

I wonder which animal will be next for gender editing.

Misleading article. Male chicks would still be culled - only they will culled before hatching

How about gene-editing males to females, or utilize a breed that would produce meat birds from males so that none are culled for being the wrong gender?

 

[RoyalChick]

Thats fair too, did the people who came up with this think of that? How will the altering affect the hens hatched from the eggs? And what about the hens laying the eggs. Do they all have the same quality of life as normal chickens?

I believe from the article some of that is what they are still studying - will the edited hens be normal (as far as they can tell).
I am sure it would never be available to a backyard chicken person, but if it were, I think I would use it. I would buy eggs rather than subect chicks to the stress of shipping, and I would blue-light them - and then I would use the dead eggs for animal food (assuming I could tell which those were).

 

[RoyalChick]

or utilize a breed that would produce meat birds from males so that none are culled for being the wrong gender?

Isn't that just killing the males after they have grown up?
Not sure I see why that is better.

 

[Florida Bullfrog]

This is a great exercise in studying media spin. The article headline:

“Gene-edited hens may end cull of billions of chicks”​

Here is an alternate headline that is just as accurrate:

“Gene-edited hens to create weaker male embryos that die when exposed to certain lights”

 

[Cat Ballou]

Isn't that just killing the males after they have grown up?
Not sure I see why that is better.

The most humane thing is to raise your own chickens, but it’s not the most affordable option.