The combination chicken or combikip was mooted as a possible solution to the killing of millions of day-old chicks – a necessary evil because of the Netherlands’ highly intensive poultry industry. The chicks are killed because they are male – which means they cannot produce eggs and are also not the right breed to be eaten. MPs have called on farm ministry experts to look into the possibility of developing a breed of chicken where the female is a good egg layer and the male produces a lot of meat. A very pragmatic Dutch solution.