Ban Hatch and Dispatch Round Table – 11th February 2026

The 11^th of February saw The Vegetarian Society host a Parliamentary Round Table at Westminster to discuss the benefits and potential impacts of implementing in-ovo sexing technology throughout the egg industry.

The discussion was positive and well-received by both political and industry figures. Despite some disappointment that the British Egg Industry Council did not attend, the Round Table was carried out in a convivial and solution-focused manner between all stakeholders present.

We believe that in-ovo sexing technology should be implemented as quickly as possible throughout the egg industry. Currently, 45 million male chicks are killed every year after hatching – simply for being male. In-ovo sexing would enable the industry to determine which eggs contain male chicks before hatching and prevent this unnecessary suffering.  Other countries have already implemented this technology with great success – and the resulting costs are only around 1 pence extra per egg.

The Government’s recent Animal Welfare strategy made reference to ending male chick culling, but did not give a timeline or make it clear how this is to be achieved. The Vegetarian Society believes both of these are essential next steps in ending this cruel and out-dated practice and will produce a roadmap for how to achieve this.

Jenny Canham, The Vegetarian Society’s Policy Lead had the following to say.

‘We held a roundtable discussion last night in parliament on ending male chick culling. It was chaired by Irene Campbell MP and we were joined by MPs including Adrian Ramsay MP and Kerry McCarthy MP, reps from the in-ovo technology industry, academics, veterinarians and NGOs.

Great to see people travel from across Europe to join us. We were really happy to also be joined by campaigners and industry from Norway who is the latest country to announce a transition away from male chick culling, sharing their perspective and useful learnings for the UK. The aim of the discussion was for a collaborative approach on next steps towards securing an end to male chick culling as soon as possible, and we’re really grateful for all the contributions.’

Click here to read the thoughts of our CEO, Richard McIlwain

You can support our campaign today. Sign our petition to tell the Government you want male chick culling to end.

You can also write to your MP to ask them to join our campaign.