In the egg industry, a harsh truth often goes unnoticed: half of all newborn chicks—over six billion globally each year—are culled simply for being male. This not only means the loss of countless lives but also significant resource waste. Another overlooked fact is that while it is common in many countries to consume the meat of egg-laying hens, this practice is virtually nonexistent in the U.S. It’s time to rethink these wasteful habits and reintegrate hen and rooster meat into our food system.

While hens are prized for their eggs, roosters, unable to lay eggs and less efficient for meat production, are often deemed worthless. As a result, over 350 million male chicks are killed annually in the U.S. alone. It’s a wasteful process that demands a reevaluation of poultry production. Roosters may be less efficient for meat production, requiring more time and resources to gain weight, but this inefficiency can be mitigated by feeding them food waste and by-products from crop processing. Chickens are excellent at converting waste into valuable protein. By aligning the number of layer hens and roosters with the available food waste, we could free up land for growing food directly for humans.

Additionally, as recommended by organizations like Project Drawdown and the Eat-Lancet Commission, Western countries should shift towards more plant-based proteins and fewer animal proteins. This raises a crucial question: do we still need the nine billion broiler chickens consumed annually in the U.S.?

An Untapped Resource

Roosters and spent hens from egg farms present an untapped alternative meat source. After about 70-90 weeks of laying eggs, hens reach a point where their egg production declines, making them no longer viable for the market. At this stage, they are typically sent to slaughterhouses and their meat is used in soups or snacks in various countries. In the U.S., however, the economic feasibility of processing layer hens is often lacking, leading to culling them on farm. These birds are then used for livestock feed, industrial applications, or, worse, discarded in landfills. This wasn’t always the case; previous generations regularly consumed hen meat, reflecting a missed opportunity in our current food system.

Rooster and hen meat, though leaner and less meaty than broiler chickens, can serve as a viable substitute for broiler meat. One of the challenges lies in adapting the existing supply chain to process these birds efficiently.

Overcoming Infrastructure Challenges

The U.S. meat supply chain is currently ill-equipped to handle the smaller roosters and hens bred for egg production. Large commercial poultry processing facilities are designed for larger broiler birds. Processing layer hens and roosters, which don’t fit into the standard equipment, becomes difficult and expensive. Some specialized poultry facilities can manage smaller birds, but they are less automated and only handle a few hundred to a few thousand birds daily, making the process costly.

Kipster, a farm committed to sustainable practices, has faced significant challenges in finding appropriate facilities to process our birds. The smaller size and leaner build of our hens and roosters have made them unsuitable for large-scale slaughterhouses. As a result, Kipster had to make the difficult decision to cull day-old roosters and old layer hens on the farm, sending them to render facilities, for the first time in the company’s history earlier this year. Despite these challenges, Kipster has managed to donate most of the roosters that were raised and processed previously to food banks, demonstrating the potential to make use of these birds in a meaningful way.

The Role of In-Ovo Sexing Technology

In several European countries, the killing of male chicks is being addressed through in-ovo sexing technology, which determines the sex of a chick before it hatches. This technology identifies male embryos early, preventing the hatching of unwanted males and avoiding the culling process altogether. While this technology is not yet available in the U.S., commitments have been made to introduce it by late fall or winter. In-ovo sexing represents a crucial interim step forward, allowing us to eliminate chick culling while we work on developing sustainable meat production and marketing solutions. However, it’s important to recognize that in-ovo technology doesn’t change the food system at large; it indirectly supports the continuation of the broiler industry without addressing broader systemic issues.

Moving Forward

Despite the challenges, the potential benefits of integrating roosters and spent hens into the food system are significant. By utilizing all poultry produced in the egg industry, we can reduce waste, lower our dependence on broiler chickens, and promote a more sustainable and ethical approach to poultry production.

To achieve these goals, a concerted effort is required to develop infrastructure that accommodates the processing of these birds and to create market demand for their meat. Commitments to product development, as well as a willingness to reintroduce this meat into the human food chain, are essential to realizing these solutions fully.

We invite stakeholders and the public to join the conversation and contribute ideas. Your input is invaluable as we seek to upcycle the meat from these birds into valuable food products. Reach out to me at [email protected] to share your thoughts and help shape the future of sustainable poultry production.

The views and opinions expressed in this guest blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of ReFED.