4 min read Here's How Germany Will Stop The Senseless Killing Of 45 Million Chickens

<p> <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/twix/209549325">Flickr/Alex Starr</a> </p>

It's the egg industry's dark secret: Every year, billions of newborn chicks around the globe are killed when they're just minutes old. In Germany, that number is 45 million, but it could be zero under the country's new plan. Last week a German scientist revealed she had discovered a method for detecting the gender of a chick inside the egg. Now, Germany is promising to use that research to eliminate the widespread culling of male chicks. The country hopes to implement the research by as early as 2016, AP reported, and Germany would become the first country to end chick culling by 2017.

Until now, the death of massive amounts of chicks was an inevitable aspect of egg production both in the U.S. - which kills 200 million chicks annually - and abroad. Poultry farms have a constant stream of newborn chicks coming in to replace "spent" laying hens who are sent to slaughter. It's currently impossible to determine gender until the chicks are hatched, and as male chicks aren't needed, they're promptly disposed of within hours of being born. These "shredder" chicks are often dumped into a macerator, a blender-like machine that grinds up the baby chicks alive. Another option is the gas chamber, which can take up to two minutes to kill them and often leaves them shaking and gasping for air.