Serious Reading: Chick Culling & the Egg-Tech Prize

[333113]

This article discussed how chick culling is being addressed world-wide:
https://undark.org/2021/03/15/egg-industry-grapples-with-chick-culling/

Not everyone is interested in all the details, but for me it's good to hear that there are people actively working on this problem.

 

[H-B-O]

I-I Just read it LET THEM LIVE

 

[-Clementine-]

when I first learned about chick culling, and what they do to the poor animals, I was so mad, but it makes me feel better that there are people out there who are trying to make things better for everyone

 

[WestTNriverrat]

While I agree with the need to lower the cull rate. I disagree with organizations pressuring private businesses to conform to said organizations beliefs. As long as no laws are broken what business is it of theirs just because they disagree with the ethics of others. Don’t support businesses that you don’t want but to try and change their business model. It’s crazy and equally as wrong as over culling of chickens.

 

[333113]

While I agree with the need to lower the cull rate. I disagree with organizations pressuring private businesses to conform to said organizations beliefs. As long as no laws are broken what business is it of theirs just because they disagree with the ethics of others. Don’t support businesses that you don’t want but to try and change their business model. It’s crazy and equally as wrong as over culling of chickens.

I guess the line that got to me is this quote:
“I mean, name another industry where 50 percent of the finished product immediately goes to the garbage can,” said Jonathan Hoopes, president of Ovabrite, a Texas-based startup developing an in-ovo sexing technique. Incubating male eggs also takes up unnecessary space, energy, and money, making a solution to culling in the interest of both animal rights activists and egg producers.

 

[BlueBaby]

Most people only want the pullet's and it's hard to find homes for the male's. I can see why they are culling the males. I would definitely be interest in the being able to tell the sex of an egg before it hatched.

 

[springvalley123]

To get to the root of any problem, including chick culling, you have to ask "5 why's".
1. why do buyers only want pullets
a. because they don't want to process the cockerels
2. why don't they want to process the cockerels
a. ???
As you go down the list, you get to the meat of the problem. The professor who taught me this, said that even most engineers stop at the third Why, thinking they've gotten to the root of the problem.
I think a product such as ovabrite would at least reduce the waste of the later days of incubation. But with science learning more all the time about when a fetus (even a chicken embryo) truly first feels pain, we might need to come up with some other solution sooner or later.

 

[BlueBaby]

To get to the root of any problem, including chick culling, you have to ask "5 why's".
1. why do buyers only want pullets
a. because they don't want to process the cockerels
2. why don't they want to process the cockerels
a. ???
As you go down the list, you get to the meat of the problem. The professor who taught me this, said that even most engineers stop at the third Why, thinking they've gotten to the root of the problem.
I think a product such as ovabrite would at least reduce the waste of the later days of incubation. But with science learning more all the time about when a fetus (even a chicken embryo) truly first feels pain, we might need to come up with some other solution sooner or later.

Another one listed under 1 would be that they either don't want to have crowing or the neighbor's live too close and would complain, or they live in an HOA that doesn't allow them.

 

[WestTNriverrat]

I guess the line that got to me is this quote:
“I mean, name another industry where 50 percent of the finished product immediately goes to the garbage can,” said Jonathan Hoopes, president of Ovabrite, a Texas-based startup developing an in-ovo sexing technique. Incubating male eggs also takes up unnecessary space, energy, and money, making a solution to culling in the interest of both animal rights activists and egg producers.

I don’t want to sound like a cruel person because I love and enjoy my chickens. I think this whole thing called life is filled with beautiful creatures in all its corners and some in very much dire need of protection and all the support they can get.
Chickens are livestock and chick hatcheries are in the customer supply and demand business. They move inventory just like any other retail business. I’ve worked in other fields and while not dealing in living creatures anytime our inventory would not move it was scrapped and broken and thrown away. Inventory that would be very useful to many people. Was it wasteful? Yes absurdly so. Just because it was wasteful doesn’t make it illegal. Just because we may feel something isn’t right or we don’t agree with it doesn’t give us the right to change it.

 

[springvalley123]

I don’t want to sound like a cruel person because I love and enjoy my chickens. I think this whole thing called life is filled with beautiful creatures in all its corners and some in very much dire need of protection and all the support they can get.
Chickens are livestock and chick hatcheries are in the customer supply and demand business. They move inventory just like any other retail business. I’ve worked in other fields and while not dealing in living creatures anytime our inventory would not move it was scrapped and broken and thrown away. Inventory that would be very useful to many people. Was it wasteful? Yes absurdly so. Just because it was wasteful doesn’t make it illegal. Just because we may feel something isn’t right or we don’t agree with it doesn’t give us the right to change it.

Although the animal rights people have their reasons, the main business reason for inventions such as ovabrite is to reduce waste from the supply chain and increase efficiency. Think of it as continuous improvement.