Joanna Lumley backs deadline plan to end chick culling
Dame joanna lumley backed a roadmap to end the killing of about 45 million male chicks in the UK each year, adding public pressure to a practice that has already drawn parliamentary support. She called for chick culling to be banned and backed a plan that would force ministers to set a clear deadline.
"This unnecessary practice has no place here." She also said, "I'm proud to support this path forward to end cruel male chick culling. As a nation of animal lovers, let's move forward and ban hatch and dispatch."
45 million chicks
The proposal was developed by the Vegetarian Society and has 19 cross-party politicians behind it. Irene Campbell said, "Our campaign has almost 90 supporters in Parliament, from across the political spectrum. It is clear that to make real progress, my Defra colleagues must take a central role in moving this process forward."
About 45 million male chicks are gassed within hours of hatching each year because they cannot lay eggs or be used for meat. That is the pressure point behind the roadmap: it does not just ask for sympathy, it asks the government to write a deadline into policy and end a routine that industry has been able to sustain at scale.
Vegetarian Society petition
The Vegetarian Society's Ban Hatch & Dispatch petition has gathered over 40,000 signatures, and its backers include Chris Packham, Brian Cox, Dave Spikey and Dr Marc Abraham. Jenny Canham said, "With public concern growing and political support mounting, the question is no longer whether the UK will end chick culling – but how quickly it will act. Every year of delay means almost 45 million male chicks are needlessly killed within hours of hatching, simply because they are deemed useless to the industry. This roadmap is a call for swift action, and we hope the government listens."
In December, the Animal Welfare Strategy for England said ministers would like to see the practice banned, so Lumley's backing gives that stated aim more visible political weight. Norway plans to transition away from male chick culling by 2027, and its egg industry is already adopting in-ovo sexing technology, which leaves the UK facing a straightforward choice: set a deadline or keep drifting behind.
Norway by 2027
Lumley has long campaigned against factory farming, cages for farmed animals and the live transport of animals. For ministers, the next move is simple to describe and harder to dodge: accept the roadmap and name the date.
