Only female chicks are used for egg production, since male chicks cannot lay eggs. Males from egg-laying breeds are unsuitable to raise commercially for consumption. Thus, male chicks are culled soon after hatching, a process known as male chick culling. The practice presents ethical and animal welfare concerns, creates additional costs for producers and wastes resources. Currently, in the United States and certain other parts of the world, chicks can only be sexed after they hatch, which requires producers to devote time and resources to incubating the male eggs, only to cull them.
However, if technology existed that could determine a chick’s sex before it hatches, the egg industry could eliminate male chick culling, save money currently spent incubating eggs with male chicks and divert the unhatched eggs for use in vaccine production or food production.