99. This is the removal, at day-old, of the spur bud on the back of the male's leg using a heated wire. If the spur grows to be very pronounced it may cause damage to females during mating. The two main breeding companies in the UK adopt different philosophies. One removes the spur from all male chicks; the other attempts to persuade customers that the operation is unnecessary because its genotype has short, blunt spurs.
100. Members observed the despurring operation and noted that outwardly the chicks displayed little obvious distress. We found no scientific evidence about the levels of pain that might be involved but it is logical to suppose the procedure causes some pain. The Council is encouraged by the efforts of certain breeding companies to reduce significantly the percentage of despurring. This approach should be adopted by all those in the industry, even if it means development of a different genotype.
101. Routine despurring should not be necessary. The government should press all breeding companies to pursue development of genotypes with short, blunt spurs and so remove the need for despurring.