German imports of chicks increase by 11 percent

In Germany, there has been a ban on killing day-old roosters since January 1, 2022. That has put pressure on hatcheries. In November 2021, there were eighteen hatcheries in Germany. This dropped to eight companies in November 2022. According to preliminary information from the German statistics agency Destatis, the number of hatcheries fell to six last November. The expectation is that the number of hatcheries will now stabilize. Hatcheries were faced with problems with sexing the eggs. Hatching results were mixed last year, but a total of 16.56 million female chicks were born between January and November. An increase of 12 percent compared to the first twelve months of the previous year. In total, approximately 8.35 million sorted rooster chicks were registered in the first eleven months of 2023. That is 16 percent less than in the same period in 2022. Last year, 3.48 million chicks were imported in the first eleven months. That is a plus of 11 percent. In addition to the ...