Cargando…

The Need for an Alternative to Culling Day-Old Male Layer Chicks: A Survey on Awareness, Alternatives, and the Willingness to Pay for Alternatives in a Selected Population of Dutch Citizens

A concerning by-product of producing laying hen chicks are the hatched male layer chicks. As a consequence of their inability to lay eggs, these male chicks are culled as day-old chicks in the hatchery. To find an alternative for this ethical dilemma (generally), three alternatives are under study,...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: de Haas, Elske N., Oliemans, Eva, van Gerwen, Maite A. A. M.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Frontiers Media S.A. 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8248538/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34222395
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fvets.2021.662197
_version_ 1783716742920404992
author de Haas, Elske N.
Oliemans, Eva
van Gerwen, Maite A. A. M.
author_facet de Haas, Elske N.
Oliemans, Eva
van Gerwen, Maite A. A. M.
author_sort de Haas, Elske N.
collection PubMed
description A concerning by-product of producing laying hen chicks are the hatched male layer chicks. As a consequence of their inability to lay eggs, these male chicks are culled as day-old chicks in the hatchery. To find an alternative for this ethical dilemma (generally), three alternatives are under study, namely, in ovo sex determination, using dual-purpose breeds, and the rearing of layer cockerels. In order to assess the awareness of this practice and preference for one of the alternatives, we conducted an online survey of the Dutch public. Most of the 259 respondents completing the survey were highly educated woman (HEW, n = 143) versus others (REST, n = 86). The questionnaire was divided into six topics: (1) general knowledge of the poultry industry, (2) awareness of culling male layer chicks (CMC), and (3) its acceptability, (4) alternatives to CMC, (5) willingness to pay (WTP) for eggs without CMC, and (6) WTP for cockerel meat. Awareness about CMC was 52%, and its acceptability was rejected by 78% (HEW) and 67% (REST). The level of acceptability increased when more salient facts were given, and almost all respondents agreed that an alternative was needed (90% HEW, 84% REST). For both groups of respondents, more than 50% preferred in ovo sex determination over keeping the current practice or using dual-purpose breeds or male layers. Furthermore, the majority of respondents were willing to pay more than double the price for eggs without CMC being involved. Roughly 40% would not buy processed cockerel meat burgers, most likely due to their vegan or vegetarian diet. Of the remaining respondents, half were willing to pay the current price or 1 euro more for processed cockerel meat burgers. The most important factors when buying poultry meat or eggs without CMC were food safety, animal friendliness (welfare), and the environment; price was the least important factor. Despite the skewed respondents' background, the results of our survey show that consumers are willing to pay more for poultry products that do not require culling day-old male chicks.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-8248538
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2021
publisher Frontiers Media S.A.
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-82485382021-07-02 The Need for an Alternative to Culling Day-Old Male Layer Chicks: A Survey on Awareness, Alternatives, and the Willingness to Pay for Alternatives in a Selected Population of Dutch Citizens de Haas, Elske N. Oliemans, Eva van Gerwen, Maite A. A. M. Front Vet Sci Veterinary Science A concerning by-product of producing laying hen chicks are the hatched male layer chicks. As a consequence of their inability to lay eggs, these male chicks are culled as day-old chicks in the hatchery. To find an alternative for this ethical dilemma (generally), three alternatives are under study, namely, in ovo sex determination, using dual-purpose breeds, and the rearing of layer cockerels. In order to assess the awareness of this practice and preference for one of the alternatives, we conducted an online survey of the Dutch public. Most of the 259 respondents completing the survey were highly educated woman (HEW, n = 143) versus others (REST, n = 86). The questionnaire was divided into six topics: (1) general knowledge of the poultry industry, (2) awareness of culling male layer chicks (CMC), and (3) its acceptability, (4) alternatives to CMC, (5) willingness to pay (WTP) for eggs without CMC, and (6) WTP for cockerel meat. Awareness about CMC was 52%, and its acceptability was rejected by 78% (HEW) and 67% (REST). The level of acceptability increased when more salient facts were given, and almost all respondents agreed that an alternative was needed (90% HEW, 84% REST). For both groups of respondents, more than 50% preferred in ovo sex determination over keeping the current practice or using dual-purpose breeds or male layers. Furthermore, the majority of respondents were willing to pay more than double the price for eggs without CMC being involved. Roughly 40% would not buy processed cockerel meat burgers, most likely due to their vegan or vegetarian diet. Of the remaining respondents, half were willing to pay the current price or 1 euro more for processed cockerel meat burgers. The most important factors when buying poultry meat or eggs without CMC were food safety, animal friendliness (welfare), and the environment; price was the least important factor. Despite the skewed respondents' background, the results of our survey show that consumers are willing to pay more for poultry products that do not require culling day-old male chicks. Frontiers Media S.A. 2021-06-17 /pmc/articles/PMC8248538/ /pubmed/34222395 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fvets.2021.662197 Text en Copyright © 2021 de Haas, Oliemans and van Gerwen. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
spellingShingle Veterinary Science
de Haas, Elske N.
Oliemans, Eva
van Gerwen, Maite A. A. M.
The Need for an Alternative to Culling Day-Old Male Layer Chicks: A Survey on Awareness, Alternatives, and the Willingness to Pay for Alternatives in a Selected Population of Dutch Citizens
title The Need for an Alternative to Culling Day-Old Male Layer Chicks: A Survey on Awareness, Alternatives, and the Willingness to Pay for Alternatives in a Selected Population of Dutch Citizens
title_full The Need for an Alternative to Culling Day-Old Male Layer Chicks: A Survey on Awareness, Alternatives, and the Willingness to Pay for Alternatives in a Selected Population of Dutch Citizens
title_fullStr The Need for an Alternative to Culling Day-Old Male Layer Chicks: A Survey on Awareness, Alternatives, and the Willingness to Pay for Alternatives in a Selected Population of Dutch Citizens
title_full_unstemmed The Need for an Alternative to Culling Day-Old Male Layer Chicks: A Survey on Awareness, Alternatives, and the Willingness to Pay for Alternatives in a Selected Population of Dutch Citizens
title_short The Need for an Alternative to Culling Day-Old Male Layer Chicks: A Survey on Awareness, Alternatives, and the Willingness to Pay for Alternatives in a Selected Population of Dutch Citizens
title_sort need for an alternative to culling day-old male layer chicks: a survey on awareness, alternatives, and the willingness to pay for alternatives in a selected population of dutch citizens
topic Veterinary Science
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8248538/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34222395
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fvets.2021.662197
work_keys_str_mv AT dehaaselsken theneedforanalternativetocullingdayoldmalelayerchicksasurveyonawarenessalternativesandthewillingnesstopayforalternativesinaselectedpopulationofdutchcitizens
AT oliemanseva theneedforanalternativetocullingdayoldmalelayerchicksasurveyonawarenessalternativesandthewillingnesstopayforalternativesinaselectedpopulationofdutchcitizens
AT vangerwenmaiteaam theneedforanalternativetocullingdayoldmalelayerchicksasurveyonawarenessalternativesandthewillingnesstopayforalternativesinaselectedpopulationofdutchcitizens
AT dehaaselsken needforanalternativetocullingdayoldmalelayerchicksasurveyonawarenessalternativesandthewillingnesstopayforalternativesinaselectedpopulationofdutchcitizens
AT oliemanseva needforanalternativetocullingdayoldmalelayerchicksasurveyonawarenessalternativesandthewillingnesstopayforalternativesinaselectedpopulationofdutchcitizens
AT vangerwenmaiteaam needforanalternativetocullingdayoldmalelayerchicksasurveyonawarenessalternativesandthewillingnesstopayforalternativesinaselectedpopulationofdutchcitizens