Since its launch in 2025, more than 27 million egg-selling chickens (9% of flocks across the country) have either died of avian flu or (terrifyingly) to slow the spread.
It led to a shortage of eggs and a surge in prices, which costs twice as much as what we did in early 2022 when this latest bird flu outbreak began.
Due to its impact on grocery bills, mass murder of egg-selling chickens has attracted much more attention than the more routine cruelty in the egg industry. However, every year, far more chickens are brutally killed for a totally different purpose, regardless of whether or not there is an outbreak of avian flu.
The egg industry hatches around 650 million birds a year, but half of them (men) can't lay eggs, so egg companies kill them on the day they are born. They are usually shredded alive or gasted with carbon dioxide. The secret investigation of the hatch centre by animal rights groups revealed this bleak but lesser known aspect of the business. Even the already cruel factory agricultural industry is creating image problems for egg producers.
But here's the good news. The technology that will end this horrifying practice is finally coming to the United States.
It is known as “in-ovo sexing” (“in-ovo” is Latin for “in the egg”). This technology detects the gender of chicken in eggs and allows businesses to be disposed before hatching to avoid gas. There are two main ways to do that: Using hyperspectral imaging, it is a rapid analysis by drilling small holes in the eggs and extracting liquids without puncture the inside of the eggs. And this technology, at just a few pennies per carton, barely increases production costs.
Over the past few years, European gender has wiped out the European egg industry, covering approximately 20% of the continental egg supply as of April 2024. This change was driven by a mix of technological advancements, pressure from animal welfare groups and consumers, and several country-level laws banning the killing of male chicks.
Over the next few years, the technology may soon become accepted into the US egg industry.
Last December, the country's largest egg hatching site in Iowa hatched a gender chick in the first egg using a machine from German company Agri Advanced Technologies that can scan more than 20,000 eggs per hour. These chicken eggs will be sold by Nestfresh Eggs, a luxury company that sells free range eggs grown by pastures, and will reach grocery store shelves this summer. Agri Advanced Technologies has installed gender machines in their ovo at their hatch outlets in Texas.
A few weeks later, a European-based sex company called Respeggt announced plans to install machines at a large hatch site in Nebraska. Respeggt is in negotiations to install more machines at hatch sites in the US. And last month, Walmart, America's largest grocery retailer, asked its egg supplier to tackle sexing technology in eggs. Another free range and pasture-raised egg producer, Happy Egg, has promised to use sexual techniques within its existence, but has not yet begun.
The horrifying practice of mass murder chicken chicks may not be over soon, as only a few high-end egg producers have adopted or committed to this. However, it is often the first move to improve animal welfare, followed by large corporations.
“How interesting it would be [the biggest egg] “We've been working hard to get the most out of our business,” said Jörg Hurlin, Managing Director, Agri Advanced Technologies.
Robert Yaman, CEO and founder of Innovate Animal AG, said the egg companies understand that this is the direction the egg market is heading. “When you talk to people in the industry, I think there's a real sense that this is inevitable,” he said. “This is the future.”
