France will ban crushing and gassing of male chicks in 2022.

France will ban the killing of male chicks by breaking or gassing from next year, a practice denounced by animal welfare groups as barbaric, and will push for a similar measure at European level, the agriculture minister said on Sunday.

In this way, 50 million male chicks are chopped every year, Julien Denormandie told in an interview posting on the daily Le Parisien website. Only females, future egg-laying hens, are kept alive. \"France is both the first country in the world to end the crushing and gassing of male chicks\", said Denormandie.

The two countries will try to convince their European Union partners to ban the practice on Monday at a tribunal of the EU agriculture ministers, he said. Instead, from 2022, breeders in France will need to equip themselves with biosensors to detect the sexuality of chicks before they hatch.

"The dynamic is well underway and, given the already placed orders, the machines will be installed for two-thirds of production in France by the end of the first quarter of 2022,\" added Denormandie. The measure is expected to result in an extra cost of 1 euro cent per box of six eggs, he said.

To help breeders buy the equipment, France will grant Subventions totalling 10 million euros ($11 million). Also the castration of live piglets will no longer be allowed from the start of 2022, Denormandie said.