New Technology Sidesteps Killing of Male Chicks in Egg Production

The ‘Cheggy’ machine spots male embryos within the eggs, allowing them to be separated and ground up for other uses before they hatch.

Newly hatched chicks in Wilton, Iowa, on Dec. 10. A new device ensures that only female eggs mature and become chicks, providing an alternative to the longstanding practice of killing male chicks because they have little monetary value. Courtesy Tony Reidsma via AP

Novel light spectrum technology is making the U.S. egg industry more humane by allowing producers to determine the sex of the egg before it hatches, thus preventing the killing of male chicks that don’t produce eggs.

Approximately 350 million male chicks each year are discarded into spinning blades that instantly kill in a process called maceration, The Associated Press reported on Thursday.