EGG-citing Times! Egg Brand Kipster Is Ending Male Chick Culling in Their Egg Supply!

Until recently, all egg production in the U.S. involved the routine killing of half of the chicks hatched in hatcheries, simply because those chicks were male and would not grow up to lay eggs like the females. This practice is commonly referred to by the industry as male chick culling — the killing of male chicks by grinding them alive or gassing them.

We’re working to end male chick culling for good, so we wanted to share the egg-citing news: egg brand Kipster is now using a new approach to spare the male chicks involved in producing their eggs!

In 2024, Kipster committed to stopping this practice as part of its animal welfare philosophy, which includes leaving hens’ beaks intact and offering birds an enriched environment with pecking and foraging materials, as well as providing unparallelled transparency about their operations. To date, Kipster has spared about 50,000 male chicks from this cruel ending using a process called in-ovo sexing, which identifies the male embryos in the egg so that only females can be hatched.

Kipster is the second egg brand to implement this new approach to spare male chicks, but sadly, most egg companies still make their eggs by killing baby chicks — a practice that is completely unnecessary.

How To Find Kipster’s Better-Hatched Eggs

Kipster’s first flock of hens hatched from in-ovo sexed eggs has laid their own eggs, and those eggs are now rolling out at King Soopers, City Market, Pick ‘n Save, Dillons, Fry’s, Smith’s, Mariano’s, Metro Market and Kroger stores.

When you’re looking for better-hatched eggs, from companies that treat hens and chicks more humanely, take note: Kipster will not be labeling their better-hatched eggs with the Certified Humane® Approved Hatchery seal (indicating use of in-ovo sexing and sparing of male chicks) on their egg cartons until all its eggs in supermarkets are compliant. They expect this to be done by the end 2026, and from that point on, shoppers can know that any eggs they see from Kipster are verified to be produced without male chick culling. We’ll continue to share updates.

What You Can Do

Share your knowledge: See how much you, your family and friends know about the egg industry and encourage others to learn about male chick culling by sharing our interactive quiz!

Ask your supermarket: Politely request your supermarket make shelf space for better-hatched eggs.

Stay up to date: Sign up for our Factory Farming Task Force so you know when Kipster’s eggs are labeled and available and when more brands offer better-hatched eggs.