Switzerland is in the process of abolishing the crushing of the chicks. The commission of science, education and culture of the national Council, the equivalent of our national Assembly, filed on the 21st march last, a motion to ban this method used to get rid of the males. Does he not, and providing less meat, they are not considered sufficiently profitable by the industry. Their short existence ends, therefore in a chopper mechanic. The executive in switzerland is also in favour of this reform, the practice has good chances to become illegal. The last word will belong to the Council of States, upper chamber that represents the cantons.
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What is it in France? As in many other countries, the crushing of the chicks is practiced. A decree of 12 December 1997, allows them to be put to death in the hatchery by the use of a mechanical apparatus causing rapid death”. Other legal methods exist, such as gassing or electrocution. According to the association of animal protection L214, which advocates among other things for the prohibition of the grinding, each year nearly 50 million chicks are thus disposed of in France. The ex-minister of Agriculture Stéphane Travert recalled in August 2018 that the government was determined to put an end to this practice.
A system of “sexing in ovo”
what to do with the chicks if it is forbidden to “liquidate”? In fact, for the breeders, their cost-effectiveness is still lacking compared to the chicks females. The solution could come from a technique developed by several companies, called “sexing in ovo”. The vendee Tronico, based in the surroundings of La Roche-sur-Yon, has been working on this new technology to recognize the sex of the chick before hatching of his egg. The advantage is non-negligible for the producer, both ethical and financial terms, because it will be able to directly put the egg on sale instead of waiting to discover the sex of the chick after hatching.
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In 2014, in the framework of the investment Program for the future (PIA), the State has even financially supported a part of the program, to the tune of 4.3 million euros, for a sale by 2024. For the time being, the company vendee does not wish to disclose on its technical advances. Because the French are not the only ones to covet this market, which could represent several million euros. The German Seleggt, also supported by public funds ($5 million), the market since 2017 spectrometry technique allowing to sort the eggs according to their sex, eight to ten days after spawning.
associations are made manifest
Many advocates of animal have already expressed their discontent about the practice of crushing of live animals, such as the association L214. At the end of 2014, she had posted a “survey filmed and documented” in order to denounce the conditions of slaughter. Contacted, Brigitte Gothière, co-founder of the association, we explained that the publication of this video is “a claim to the whole of the associations”. According to her, the publication has allowed “a reaction on the part of the government”, which resulted in the investment cited above in the search for alternative solutions. The fight of these associations is not yet finished. L214 denouncing the “illegal methods” in the slaughterhouses where “the chicks are suffocated in garbage bags before being given as food for reptiles”. According to Brigitte Gothière, the genetic selection of animals causes “of the problems psychomotor, and heart” to the hens that produce the eggs. “There are consequences on the animals, but also from a health point of view, environmental and social”.
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For Brigitte Gothière, the method of sexing “is less bad, but it should not stop there”. According to her, “this is not complicated: if one is interested in the fate of the animals, the best is to pass and go towards a diet vegan”.
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An association of diffuse images to shock, to denounce the pork value chain – Watching on Figaro Live
