Dyeing Easter Chicks: Animal Cruelty Or Holiday Tradition?

No Easter celebration is complete without a couple dyed Easter eggs, but some people take their holiday cheer a step further by dyeing Easter chicks.

A story in the New York Times says that dyeing Easter chicks has become a popular tradition for many families across the United States. And unsurprisingly, their are several people who want to put a stop to it.

The Times reports that several states already have laws against the practice. Florida was one of those states but last month they overturned a 45-year-old ban on dyeing animals. Don Anthony of the Animal Rights Foundation of Florida said:

“Humane societies are overflowing with these animals after Easter every year. This law has protected thousands of animals from neglect and abuse.”

The Globe And Mail reports that there are two popular ways to dye Easter chicks. One process involves injecting color dye into the eggs before they hatch. The other process involves spraying the baby chicks with color. The color typically lasts a few weeks. Once the chicks shed their fluff and grow feathers the color disappears.

The practice is frowned upon but several poultry experts say that the coloring doesn’t effect the chicks’ health in anyway.

Peter R. Theer, a retired poultry rancher, said:

“You take regular food coloring and inject it into the egg on the 18th day of incubation. They take 21 days to hatch. Put a little dab of wax on top to cover the hole up, and put it back in the incubator. It doesn’t hurt them, because the food coloring is perfectly safe.”

Another issue is the fact that parents will buy the Easter chicks for their children but after a few days their kids grow tired of the birds. Theer, who sold the colored birds until 2008, solved the problem by allowing the families to bring the chicks back to his farm.

What do you think about dyeing Easter chicks? Is it cruel to dye animals or is it just harmless holiday fun?