MAFF Committee discusses male chick culling for the first time

On November 8th 2022, Genki Sudo councilor raised a question at the diet session in regards to male chicks who get killed just a day after they were born.

The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries (MAFF) response to his particular question about the number of male chickens killed in Japan was quite intriguing:

“We have no statistics to show how many male chickens are born and slaughtered specifically. That said, Japan Poultry Breeders and Hatcheries Association estimates there were about 110,000,000 hens produced in 2021 so I would guess there were about the same number of male chicks.“

Supposedly 110 million birds are born to just get culled but there is no exact way of knowing since the data does not exist in the first place.

Mr. Sudo also asked about their method of killing. While the MAFF stated they instruct vendors to slaughter them in a way in which the birds die immediately or get instantly made unconscious to minimize their sufferings. However, macerators or suffocation are commonly used in actuality.

They were uncertain as to how chickens are actually slaughtered. When a vendor suffocates birds to death, they often throw the chicks in a plastic bag, and they usually get crushed, freeze to death or die from heat. This method usually prolongs death and the birds tend to suffer for a long time. This is far from“a method where they die immediately or get instantly made unconscious,”which is outlined by the OIE’s guidelines. This is arguably worse than the cervical neck dislocation method as chicks stay conscious in this way.

Mr. Sudo responded to this answer as follows:

“It’s crucial to pay respect to the lives of animals who we share the same soul with. The view towards lives of other species mirrors the unjustified treatment of the minority or the weak. I believe we can change society by being kind to all lives.“

We hope his thoughtful speech touched on the other councilors and the MAFF.

The problem around the current process was also addressed in the session. The MAFF stated they were not aware of a case where male chickens were raised as meat as opposed to getting slaughtered as chicks. That said, they said they are aware we can potentially identify the sex in the eggs through a research done by National Agriculture and Food Research Organization and Kyoto University. As much as we would like it to be available, the MAFF unfortunately does not seem to care too much to make it happen soon. Mr. Fujiki, the Vice Minister of MAFF, said he was thankful for this opportunity to learn as he didn’t know male chickens would not be utilized as meat, like cows or pigs, but rather, just get slaughtered. We hope Mr. Fujiki will promote a policy to minimize the sufferings of 110,000,000 chickens.

Mr. Sudo concluded with the following remarks:

“In order to stop killing chickens as soon as they are born, we need to invest in our research and technology to transition out from this horrible practice and start discussing the cost associated with this investment.“

Countries like France or Germany certainly invest in new technology. In order for the country to move forward, citizens must say no to this evil practice so please spread our words to save male chicks.