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redingerforcongress OP t1_j1egi8x wrote

> An estimated 4-6 billion male chicks are slaughtered globally every year because they serve no economic purpose. Some are suffocated, others are fed alive into grinding or shredding machines to be processed into reptile food.

“If you can determine the sex of a hatching egg you can entirely dispense with the culling of live male chicks,” said Seleggt managing director Dr Ludger Breloh, who spearheaded the four-year programme by German supermarket Rewe Group to make its own-brand eggs more sustainable.

Breloh said his first breakthrough came when he approached scientists at the University of Leipzig where Prof Almuth Einspanier had developed a chemical marker – similar to a pregnancy test – that could detect a hormone present in high quantities in female eggs. Mixed with fluid from fertilised eggs at nine days, the marker changes blue for a male and white for a female, with a 98.5% accuracy rate.

A laser beam burns a 0.3mm-wide hole in the shell. Then, air pressure is applied to the shell exterior, pushing a drop of fluid out of the hole. The process takes one second per egg and enables fluid to be collected from eggs without touching them.

“It worked absolutely faultlessly,” said Breloh of the test phase. “Today, female hens are laying eggs in farms in Germany that have been bred without killing any male chicks.”

Article from 2018 in regard to cull-free eggs nearly a half of decade later

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gerkletoss t1_j1g30yr wrote

Some of those male chicks, instead of being shredded, are killed via inert gas asphyxiation, then frozen and sold to reptile owners.

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mjkjg2 t1_j1g5vbn wrote

I’m willing to bet a lot of egg consumers didn’t know this

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dontberidiculousfool t1_j1gvxmc wrote

I’ve never met a vegetarian who knew this. Very short trip to vegan once they find out.

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PaulR79 t1_j1heafx wrote

I'm vegetarian but haven't had eggs for a long time. The only thing that prevents me from being vegan is my love of chocolate and cheese. Some people will try to tell me there are vegan chocolates and cheeses but I know they're lying. Those vile creations can never compete.

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Duffynori t1_j1gk2ch wrote

Literally had no idea and am horrified now and googling these eggs

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[deleted] t1_j1eo7on wrote

[removed]

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Milk_toesss t1_j1ewrsc wrote

Marketing. Saving money is the only motivation for doing this. After the first five days, you can cut your incubator and care costs in half or, using the potential "waste chicks," profit in another week.

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mudrolling t1_j1gferu wrote

The only other motivation is being able to market this as “no-kill eggs” as if they aren’t still abusing the hens that they keep. Looks like that part is working.

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gophergun t1_j1hk66o wrote

Even so, not abusing additional animals on top of that seems like an improvement.

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Goinfederal t1_j1fddgd wrote

Well, if I were a chicken, I'd prefer to be crushed at birth instead of having to work as an egg-laying hen in agriculture.

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PtrWalnuts t1_j1fyuzy wrote

It's a great idea because not only does it stop the cruelty but the heck of a lot more efficient.

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WritewayHome t1_j1gok2z wrote

Why isn't his government mandated? It's nearly 5 years old.

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Vegasus88 t1_j1gqo17 wrote

Because it's lies.

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Lord_Buttchug t1_j1hd02g wrote

You think these guys just made up the complicated process of shooting the egg with a laser and marking it male or female for shits and giggles?

That's not even an interesting clickbait, and probably not a lie, unlike 90% of this subreddit

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Vegasus88 t1_j1iirey wrote

Just like plastic recycling it lies. They have an ecuse to kill more chick now.

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FuturologyBot t1_j1eldk9 wrote

The following submission statement was provided by /u/redingerforcongress:

> An estimated 4-6 billion male chicks are slaughtered globally every year because they serve no economic purpose. Some are suffocated, others are fed alive into grinding or shredding machines to be processed into reptile food.

“If you can determine the sex of a hatching egg you can entirely dispense with the culling of live male chicks,” said Seleggt managing director Dr Ludger Breloh, who spearheaded the four-year programme by German supermarket Rewe Group to make its own-brand eggs more sustainable.

Breloh said his first breakthrough came when he approached scientists at the University of Leipzig where Prof Almuth Einspanier had developed a chemical marker – similar to a pregnancy test – that could detect a hormone present in high quantities in female eggs. Mixed with fluid from fertilised eggs at nine days, the marker changes blue for a male and white for a female, with a 98.5% accuracy rate.

A laser beam burns a 0.3mm-wide hole in the shell. Then, air pressure is applied to the shell exterior, pushing a drop of fluid out of the hole. The process takes one second per egg and enables fluid to be collected from eggs without touching them.

“It worked absolutely faultlessly,” said Breloh of the test phase. “Today, female hens are laying eggs in farms in Germany that have been bred without killing any male chicks.”

Article from 2018 in regard to cull-free eggs nearly a half of decade later

Please reply to OP's comment here: https://old.reddit.com/r/Futurology/comments/ztp1rh/december_2018_worlds_first_nokill_eggs_go_on_sale/j1egi8x/

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