Written question asked by Chris Evans (Labour) on Wednesday, 15 November 2017, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 20 November 2017. It was answered by George Eustice (Conservative) on Wednesday, 22 November 2017 on behalf of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

Poultry

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department are taking to promote in-ovo gender identification techniques in the poultry industry in the UK.

Answer: Alternatives to culling chicks at one-day old are currently being explored. The University of Leipzig in Germany is developing a new method for in-ovo gender identification, so that eggs identified as male can be sorted and used for purposes other than hatching. This issue was the subject of discussion at a G7 meeting of Farming Ministers in Japan in 2016, where I supported the work and offered UK assistance to build on any results. We will look carefully at the results of this work and how it can be applied to the UK’s poultry industry.

Secondary information