Written Question·Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs·UIN 104238

Poultry: Animal Welfare

Tabled: 8 January 2026

Answered: 14 January 2026

Question

Lee Anderson

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment the Government has made about the potential merits of using in-ovo sexing technology as an alternative to male chick culling in the egg industry.

Answer

Dame Angela Eagle

As stated in the recently published Animal Welfare Strategy1 we will encourage industry to end the practice of culling male laying hen chicks. In recent years there has been rapid global progress in a range of technologies that could help end the routine ...

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