PHOTO: DICK VAN DOORN
EGG PRODUCTION ▶▶▶
OKT certification mandatory for table eggs
Since 1 January 2022 all table eggs sold in Germany have to be OKT certified. Egg producers from at home and abroad are obliged to not cull male layer siblings (Ohne Küken Töten) for the number of layers used to supply the table egg market, either by raising them for meat production or use in-ovo sexing in an early stage of incubation.
BY DICK VAN DOORN A
The eggs of Lehnertz clearly show that all the male layer sib- lings have been spared, with ‘Brother rooster’ stamped on each egg in German.
few years ago, German egg traders started push- ing their layer farmers to ask their pullet suppliers for laying hens whose male siblings weren’t dis- posed of by gassing or shredding. The reasoning
behind this was a growing awareness and criticism in politics and society that approximately 42 million male layer siblings were destroyed per year shortly after hatch. Preventing sacri- ficing hatchlings, in German ‘Ohne Küken Töten’ would mean a lot for the farmers licence to produce, going forward. Poultry farm Lehnertz in the German Eifel region seized the momen- tum and started OKT certification for its organic laying hens in the summer of 2019. With the industry’s move towards OKT, livestock research in Germany focused on alternatives to sacrificing day-old male chicks, also called ‘brother roosters’ in Germany. It found that there are three possible routes to OKT, namely, sex de- termination in the egg, raising the standard male hatchlings
Ahead of the pack In 2016 Lehnertz founded the Eifel Ei cooperative. This co- operative now consists of ten farms. Lehnertz: “They supply us with the eggs, so that we can supply all affiliated super- markets.” The Eifel Ei cooperative decided in the summer of 2019 to get OKT certified with its organic laying hens. This under the name of the ‘Eifel Brother Rooster Initiative’. Lehnertz: “Both from a marketing and an ideological per- spective, we started raising male layer siblings sooner than prescribed by law. We wanted to know what it would mean financially for us as a company and gain expertise, so we did not wait until the legislation forced us”. The Eifel Ei cooperative chose to have the organic male hatchlings raised in neighboring Austria, because this makes more sense economically. The hatching eggs are all hatched in Austria at Die Eiermacher hatchery, whereby the male pullets remain in Austria and the young laying hens go to Lehnertz in Germany. The male chicks are raised in Austria in accordance with Austrian organic/eco legislation. Lehnertz: “The advantage of our organic label is that the meat can be sold at a higher price point. That is necessary because they are not standard broilers with a good feed conversion, of course.” The sale of organic roosters in Austria is absolutely no problem, according to the German poultry farmer.
Possible in-ovo method All table eggs from the Eifel Ei cooperative go to German supermarkets, about 200 in total. The eggs of Lehnertz clearly show that all the brother siblings have been spared. ‘Brother rooster’ is stamped on each egg in German. Lehnertz laughs: “That is not a legal obligation, by the way, but pure marketing”.
18 ▶ POULTRY WORLD | No. 5, 2022
for meat or breeding double-purpose birds. All qualify for certification. Lambert Lehnertz: “Until 2022 producers had the choice to go OKT or not, but with 42 million unneces- sary hatchlings being culled making headlines, a final ban was imposed. Initially, our minister of agriculture wanted to arrange it in the EU context. Ultimately, the last CDU minis- ter of agriculture, Julia Klöckner, decided to go forward uni- laterally.” As of 2022 layer farmers producing for the German table egg market are legally required to be OKT certified.
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