Maybe I missed it in the article, but I think a project like this could be a little premature. The chicks are culled, true, but if they were engineered so that they were saved instead, then they’d be condemned to a horrible life of pain in cages (laying hens have it the worst, I think). Of course, it is perfectly plausible that a project like this might somehow instigate change in the way laying hens are treated and thus kill two… birds (darnnit) with one stone, but I don’t see how.
The benefit is that half as many birds will be killed if some version of this technology is widely implemented because half as many will be born in the first place. Rather than the male chicks being born female, they just won’t be born at all.
Well these are two different problems: 1). The practice of male chick culling and 2). The treatment of laying hens.
Although these two problems are linked, I don’t think it’s fair to say “it’s better to kill day-old male chicks than allowing them to live horrible lives in cages”. Both problems are equally grotesque and require intervention.
I think that both problems have “gone under the radar” so if they were discussed more and given more public attention, it will prompt other researchers to look into alternatives and solutions.
Maybe I missed it in the article, but I think a project like this could be a little premature. The chicks are culled, true, but if they were engineered so that they were saved instead, then they’d be condemned to a horrible life of pain in cages (laying hens have it the worst, I think). Of course, it is perfectly plausible that a project like this might somehow instigate change in the way laying hens are treated and thus kill two… birds (darnnit) with one stone, but I don’t see how.
The benefit is that half as many birds will be killed if some version of this technology is widely implemented because half as many will be born in the first place. Rather than the male chicks being born female, they just won’t be born at all.
Well these are two different problems: 1). The practice of male chick culling and 2). The treatment of laying hens.
Although these two problems are linked, I don’t think it’s fair to say “it’s better to kill day-old male chicks than allowing them to live horrible lives in cages”. Both problems are equally grotesque and require intervention.
I think that both problems have “gone under the radar” so if they were discussed more and given more public attention, it will prompt other researchers to look into alternatives and solutions.