That's why I'm wondering. I've seen chick shredding videos, and these machines are fast. You can't even see the killing process unless it is in slow motion: chicks just disappear and ground meat falls down the other side.

If the machine is working correctly, I'm not sure the chicks have time to process pain, we are close to the limits of what a nervous system is capable of.

What about the time spent on the way to the machine, the sound, the smell?

Perhaps we can rationalize that they “don’t know what is going on” but it seems unlikely that they are having a good time.

In general baby warm blooded animals want to be near their mothers.

Better to cull pre hatch.

Better still to just eat lentils.

I was just responding the "feel pain" part. The process is certainly unpleasant for the chicks, but here I only focused on pain.

As for culling pre-hatch, I agree with the idea. Not only it is a win for animal welfare, but I believe it may end up being cheaper and more efficient for the farm.