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> Male chicks actually get gassed or shredded alive (!) to death right after hatching because they're fairly useless for the meat production. This isn't true.
by dpark 9y ago
> Male chicks actually get gassed or shredded alive (!) to death right after hatching because they're fairly useless for the meat production.
This isn't true. Most male chicks are slaughtered as broilers, just like most female chicks. (In fact broilers were initially the males that were culled from the egg-laying females.)
- adamnemecek 9y agoIt is (the video is disturbing) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-vgTLkE3uqk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-vgTLkE3uqk
- dpark 9y agoThis might indeed be the case for chickens raised for egg laying. The GP referred to raising chickens for meat. Males are definitely raised for meat (but slaughtered as juveniles, just like most females). But yeah, that video is disturbing.
- mschuster91 9y agoSorry for the confusion - I summed up meat and egg production. However I believe that, same as with pigs/boars, male chicken meat isn't too desirable either, and you don't want male chickens fighting in the herd or impregnating the hens.
- dpark 9y agoBroilers are slaughtered as juveniles so the meat is essentially indistinguishable. To be clear, I'm not pro-factory farming or chicken cruelty. Just saying that when you buy a broiler chicken, it's about 50% likely to be a male.
- mschuster91 9y agoHmm. Did some more research. Seems that male chickens are discouraged for meat because they grow slower and need more food to gain the same net meat: https://web.archive.org/web/20131226071033/http://www.br.de/fernsehen/bayerisches-fernsehen/sendungen/unser-land/landwirtschaft-und-forst/duales-huhn100.html https://web.archive.org/web/20131226071033/http://www.br.de/... Might be possible that's a German uniqueness, can't tell about the US.
- dpark 9y agoMy understanding has always been that for broilers, the difference is minimal. And so farms raise both. For older chickens, yes. The difference is important.
- sillysaurus3 9y agoSadly that part is true. The actual method used to slaughter them is fairly humane (they're crushed to death almost instantly) but the male chicks do get killed since there's no economic benefit in raising them.
- dpark 9y agoThis isn't true for chickens raised for meat. If you buy a "broiler" chicken at the store, it's as likely to be male as female. (Actually probably slightly more likely to be male since they raise fewer to adulthood for breeding.)