The economic interests of hatcheries in hens that are bred specifically for high laying performance are not in themselves a reasonable ground within the meaning of Section 1 sentence 2 TierschG that justifies the immediate killing of male chicks. However, until alternatives are likely to be available in the near future, the continuation of chick killing is provisionally based on a reasonable ground and remains lawful for the time being.
In recent years, around 45 million male chicks have been killed each year shortly after hatching. The reason for this is that the animals come from breeding lines that are geared towards high laying performance. The animals hardly produce any meat and are therefore unsuitable for fattening.
In 2013, the North Rhine-Westphalian Ministry of Consumer Protection decided to put an end to this practice. As a result, prohibition orders were issued against numerous hatcheries. The hatcheries took legal action against this. Both the Minden Administrative Court and the Münster Higher Administrative Court (OVG Münster) ruled - on different grounds - that the prohibition orders were unlawful.
The Federal Administrative Court confirmed the decisions of the lower courts in part, but added significant aspects in its reasoning and consideration.
The BVerwG emphasized that the German Animal Welfare Act not only protects the animal's well-being, but also its life in general. According to Section 1 sentence 2 of the Animal Welfare Act, no one may inflict pain, suffering or harm on an animal without reasonable cause. A reasonable reason for killing an animal exists if the behavior towards the animal serves an interest worthy of protection which, under the specific circumstances, outweighs the interest in protecting the animal.
The Federal Administrative Court ruled that the killing of male chicks for purely economic reasons was not based on a reasonable reason in light of the state objective of animal welfare, which was enshrined in Article 20a of the German Basic Law in 2002. The economic interests of the farms to keep only the female chicks outweigh the interests of animal welfare.
Animals have an intrinsic value
Since the male chicks are killed at the earliest possible time, in contrast to animals for slaughter, their "uselessness" is clear from the outset. Moreover, the sole purpose of producing both female and male chicks from breeding lines with a high laying performance is the rearing of laying hens. This denies the life of a male chick any intrinsic value. This is contrary to the basic idea of the Animal Welfare Act, which is to ensure a balance between animal welfare and the interests of human use.
Unreasonableness only due to double burden
However, the previous practice had been carried out in this way for decades, meaning that hatcheries could not be required to change their method of operation immediately and a transitional period had to be allowed. It was already foreseeable at the time of the Münster Higher Administrative Court's decision that it would be possible to determine the sex in the egg in the near future. Further developments would confirm this assessment. For this reason, hatcheries without a transition period would be forced to initially go to great lengths to raise male chicks, only to set up a procedure for sex determination in the egg only a short time later. The BVerwG considers this double burden to be unreasonable. The killing of male chicks therefore remains permitted for the time being until the new technology for sex determination in the egg is introduced.
Dr. Fiete Kalscheuer and Laura Hannig