Data

Which countries have banned chick culling?

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Source

Various sources (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data

Last updated

April 16, 2026

Date range

2026–2026

More Data on Animal Welfare

Sources and processing

This data is based on the following sources

Various sources – Chick culling laws

Retrieved on

April 16, 2026

Retrieved from

https://animallaweurope.com/news/

Citation

This is the citation of the original data obtained from the source, prior to any processing or adaptation by Our World in Data. To cite data downloaded from this page, please use the suggested citation given in Reuse This Work below.

Evidence of laws banning chick culling, and evidence of chick culling being practiced without any ban, has been gathered from various sources for different countries.
Some of those sources were extracted from a report by the European Institute for Animal Law & Policy: "Chick and Duckling Killing: Achieving an EU-Wide Prohibition" (White paper, January 2023) by Alice Di Concetto, Olivier Morice, Matthias Corion, Simão Santos.

Austria: Banned. Source: Section 6(2a) of the Animal Welfare Act (§ 6 Abs. 2a Tierschutzgesetz). Chicks used for feed production are exempt.
France: Banned. Source: Article R 214-17(II) of the Rural Code (Article R 214-17(II) du Code rural et de la pêche maritime). Chicks used for animal feed are exempt.
Germany: Banned. Source: Section 4c of the Animal Welfare Act (§ 4c Tierschutzgesetz).
Italy: Banned but not yet in effect. Source: Legislative Decree 205/2023 (Decreto Legislativo 7 dicembre 2023, n. 205). Date effective: 2026-12-31.
Luxembourg: Banned. Source: Law of 27 June 2018 on animal protection (Loi du 27 juin 2018 sur la protection des animaux).
Switzerland: Partially banned. Source: Article 20(g) of the Animal Protection Ordinance (Art. 20 Bst. g Tierschutzverordnung). Shredding of live chicks is banned. Killing by gas remains legal.
Belgium: Partially banned. Source: Walloon Government communiqué, 3 July 2025 (Communiqué du Gouvernement de Wallonie, 3 juillet 2025). Regional measures only. Wallonia banned chick grinding in 2021.
Norway: Not banned. Source: White Paper on Animal Welfare, Norwegian Government (Meld. St. 8 (2024-2025) Dyrevelferd, Regjeringen). No binding legislation. The industry pledged to adopt in-ovo sexing by July 2027.
Netherlands: Not banned. Source: Parliamentary letter on chick culling roadmap, Dutch Government (Kamerbrief aanbieden roadmap eendagshaantjes). No binding legislation. Government roadmap targets phasing out chick culling by 2026.
Australia: Not banned. Source: Australian Animal Welfare Standards and Guidelines, Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF).
Canada: Not banned. Source: Preventive Control Plan for Hatcheries, Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA).
New Zealand: Not banned. Source: Code of Welfare: Layer Hens, Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) New Zealand.
United Kingdom: Not banned. Source: The Welfare of Animals at the Time of Killing (England) Regulations 2015 (WATOK).
United States: Not banned. Source: Animal Legal & Historical Center, Michigan State University.
Bulgaria: Not banned. Source: European Parliamentary Research Service (2022-12).
Croatia: Not banned. Source: European Parliamentary Research Service (2022-12).
Cyprus: Not banned. Source: European Parliamentary Research Service (2022-12).
Czechia: Not banned. Source: European Parliamentary Research Service (2022-12).
Denmark: Not banned. Source: European Parliamentary Research Service (2022-12).
Estonia: Not banned. Source: European Parliamentary Research Service (2022-12).
Finland: Not banned. Source: European Parliamentary Research Service (2022-12).
Greece: Not banned. Source: European Parliamentary Research Service (2022-12).
Hungary: Not banned. Source: European Parliamentary Research Service (2022-12).
Ireland: Not banned. Source: European Parliamentary Research Service (2022-12).
Latvia: Not banned. Source: European Parliamentary Research Service (2022-12).
Lithuania: Not banned. Source: European Parliamentary Research Service (2022-12).
Malta: Not banned. Source: European Parliamentary Research Service (2022-12).
Poland: Not banned. Source: European Parliamentary Research Service (2022-12).
Portugal: Not banned. Source: European Parliamentary Research Service (2022-12).
Romania: Not banned. Source: European Parliamentary Research Service (2022-12).
Slovakia: Not banned. Source: European Parliamentary Research Service (2022-12).
Slovenia: Not banned. Source: European Parliamentary Research Service (2022-12).
Spain: Not banned. Source: European Parliamentary Research Service (2022-12).
Sweden: Not banned. Source: European Parliamentary Research Service (2022-12).

Retrieved on

April 16, 2026

Retrieved from

https://animallaweurope.com/news/

Citation

Evidence of laws banning chick culling, and evidence of chick culling being practiced without any ban, has been gathered from various sources for different countries.
Some of those sources were extracted from a report by the European Institute for Animal Law & Policy: "Chick and Duckling Killing: Achieving an EU-Wide Prohibition" (White paper, January 2023) by Alice Di Concetto, Olivier Morice, Matthias Corion, Simão Santos.

Austria: Banned. Source: Section 6(2a) of the Animal Welfare Act (§ 6 Abs. 2a Tierschutzgesetz). Chicks used for feed production are exempt.
France: Banned. Source: Article R 214-17(II) of the Rural Code (Article R 214-17(II) du Code rural et de la pêche maritime). Chicks used for animal feed are exempt.
Germany: Banned. Source: Section 4c of the Animal Welfare Act (§ 4c Tierschutzgesetz).
Italy: Banned but not yet in effect. Source: Legislative Decree 205/2023 (Decreto Legislativo 7 dicembre 2023, n. 205). Date effective: 2026-12-31.
Luxembourg: Banned. Source: Law of 27 June 2018 on animal protection (Loi du 27 juin 2018 sur la protection des animaux).
Switzerland: Partially banned. Source: Article 20(g) of the Animal Protection Ordinance (Art. 20 Bst. g Tierschutzverordnung). Shredding of live chicks is banned. Killing by gas remains legal.
Belgium: Partially banned. Source: Walloon Government communiqué, 3 July 2025 (Communiqué du Gouvernement de Wallonie, 3 juillet 2025). Regional measures only. Wallonia banned chick grinding in 2021.
Norway: Not banned. Source: White Paper on Animal Welfare, Norwegian Government (Meld. St. 8 (2024-2025) Dyrevelferd, Regjeringen). No binding legislation. The industry pledged to adopt in-ovo sexing by July 2027.
Netherlands: Not banned. Source: Parliamentary letter on chick culling roadmap, Dutch Government (Kamerbrief aanbieden roadmap eendagshaantjes). No binding legislation. Government roadmap targets phasing out chick culling by 2026.
Australia: Not banned. Source: Australian Animal Welfare Standards and Guidelines, Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF).
Canada: Not banned. Source: Preventive Control Plan for Hatcheries, Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA).
New Zealand: Not banned. Source: Code of Welfare: Layer Hens, Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) New Zealand.
United Kingdom: Not banned. Source: The Welfare of Animals at the Time of Killing (England) Regulations 2015 (WATOK).
United States: Not banned. Source: Animal Legal & Historical Center, Michigan State University.
Bulgaria: Not banned. Source: European Parliamentary Research Service (2022-12).
Croatia: Not banned. Source: European Parliamentary Research Service (2022-12).
Cyprus: Not banned. Source: European Parliamentary Research Service (2022-12).
Czechia: Not banned. Source: European Parliamentary Research Service (2022-12).
Denmark: Not banned. Source: European Parliamentary Research Service (2022-12).
Estonia: Not banned. Source: European Parliamentary Research Service (2022-12).
Finland: Not banned. Source: European Parliamentary Research Service (2022-12).
Greece: Not banned. Source: European Parliamentary Research Service (2022-12).
Hungary: Not banned. Source: European Parliamentary Research Service (2022-12).
Ireland: Not banned. Source: European Parliamentary Research Service (2022-12).
Latvia: Not banned. Source: European Parliamentary Research Service (2022-12).
Lithuania: Not banned. Source: European Parliamentary Research Service (2022-12).
Malta: Not banned. Source: European Parliamentary Research Service (2022-12).
Poland: Not banned. Source: European Parliamentary Research Service (2022-12).
Portugal: Not banned. Source: European Parliamentary Research Service (2022-12).
Romania: Not banned. Source: European Parliamentary Research Service (2022-12).
Slovakia: Not banned. Source: European Parliamentary Research Service (2022-12).
Slovenia: Not banned. Source: European Parliamentary Research Service (2022-12).
Spain: Not banned. Source: European Parliamentary Research Service (2022-12).
Sweden: Not banned. Source: European Parliamentary Research Service (2022-12).

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“Data Page: Which countries have banned chick culling?”, part of the following publication: Hannah Ritchie, Pablo Rosado, and Max Roser (2023) - “Animal Welfare”. Data adapted from Various sources. Retrieved from https://archive.ourworldindata.org/20260416-110549/grapher/banning-of-chick-culling.html [online resource] (archived on April 16, 2026).

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Various sources (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data

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Various sources (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data. “Which countries have banned chick culling?” [dataset]. Various sources, “Chick culling laws” [original data]. Retrieved April 16, 2026 from https://archive.ourworldindata.org/20260416-110549/grapher/banning-of-chick-culling.html (archived on April 16, 2026).

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Various sources – Chick culling laws

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