Britain must end needless horror – warm words from No10 simply won't cut it

At Easter time, cute, fuzzy chicks are everywhere. They appear in TV adverts, on supermarket shelves and in school crafts as adorable symbols of new life and springtime joy. But what most Brits do not realise is that every year around 45 million of those tiny chicks are killed by the egg industry shortly after hatching, simply because they were born the wrong sex. Male chicks from egg-laying breeds are of no use to the industry. They cannot lay eggs and they are not suitable for meat production.

So, within hours of hatching, they are destroyed. That amounts to more than 20,000 chicks every single hour on average. This Easter, the UK has a chance to change that, because a tried and tested solution already exists.

A technology called in-ovo sexing allows farmers to determine the sex of a chick while it is still inside the egg, long before it can feel pain or fear.

Eggs identified as male can then be repurposed for uses such as animal feed. Nothing is wasted, and the chicks are spared a brief and pointless life followed by a needless death.

Other countries have already shown this can work. France, Germany, Austria and Switzerland have ended culling of male chicks and adopted this technology across their egg industries.

Italy, Norway and the Netherlands are expected to follow within the next 12 to 18 months. So why is Britain, a country that prides itself on being a nation of animal lovers, falling behind?

Last year the Government’s long-awaited animal welfare strategy acknowledged the problem and said ministers would “like to see” an end to the practice, known as hatch and dispatch.

But warm words are not enough. There is still no clear timetable for change.

Installing the technology would add less than a penny to the price of an egg. With government support to help farms install the equipment, the impact could be even smaller.

Britain has a proud history of leading the way on animal protection.

The UK passed the world’s first animal protection law in 1822, and the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals was founded just two years later, becoming the RSPCA under Queen Victoria in 1840.

The Vegetarian Society, which I lead today, was founded in 1847 and was the first organisation of its kind anywhere in the world.

These are great British achievements we can all be proud of. But if the UK wants to remain a global leader on animal protection, we must continue to act.

The upcoming King’s Speech, where the Government sets out its legislative priorities, is the perfect moment to finally end hatch and dispatch.

If ministers act now, we could ensure that next Easter millions of chicks are spared an unnecessary death.

If you want to do your bit, google ‘hatch and dispatch’, sign our petition, and help us crack on.

Richard McIlwain is the Chief Executive (CEO) of the Vegetarian Society UK

Originally featured in the Daily Express – Tue, Mar 31, 2026