Good news: soon you’ll be able to buy eggs without day-old roosters
Fried, poached or boiled. Eggs make us happy. Especially when they’re eggs from happy chickens or when no roosters are killed in the supply chain. Because unfortunately, the latter happens very often. But if it’s up to Jumbo, that will soon be a thing of the past.
Rooster behavior
Every year, around 40 million roosters are killed in the Netherlands, shortly after hatching. This happens because roosters have no role in the egg production chain: after all, they cannot lay eggs themselves and are less suitable for meat production.
With the help of a new technique, it can be determined at an early stage of incubation whether an egg will hatch into a pullet or a cockerel. As soon as it turns out to be a cockerel, the incubation process is stopped. This prevents the roosters from being born unnecessarily and subsequently killed. Being able to identify the sex of a hatching egg at an early stage is a unique step towards better animal welfare—and the Dutch Society for the Protection of Animals is therefore very enthusiastic.
To hatch or not to hatch?
So how do you know whether it will be a cockerel or a pullet? It works as follows: after approximately 9 days of incubation, a fine laser beam extracts a tiny drop of liquid from the hatching egg of a laying hen, without damaging the egg. This drop is then tested with a marking fluid. The color of the marking fluid indicates whether the sex is male or female.
If it turns out to be a cockerel, the incubation process is stopped and the egg is processed into animal feed. This prevents the cockerel from being born and subsequently killed. The female hatching eggs are incubated—and end up on store shelves.
Here’s how to recognize the eggs
The so-called ‘Respeggt eggs’ will be on the shelves of all Jumbo supermarkets from the end of March. They are clearly recognizable by the logo on the packaging and a stamp on the eggs themselves.
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