Poultry innovators cracked the code on guaranteed egg sexing.
Shell yeah! German-based Agri Advanced Technologies created the first in-ovo chicken sexing technology. That means hatcheries will be able to sex eggs before they hatch, which would create a new category of certified eggs from sexed chickens.
The machine, Cheggy, offers a non-invasive way to accurately sort eggs between male and female embryos. It’s also doing it at 25K eggs per hour. Talk about a swift gender reveal!
Hatching a solution: One motivation behind the technology is having a more humane way to dispose of male chicks. Males are typically killed on layer lines because they cannot enter egg or meat production. Cheggy addresses that by allowing hatcheries to dispose of eggs instead of chicks.
Coming soon: An Iowa-based hatchery is the first company to use the machine and has already sent sexed eggs to its first customer, NestFresh. But in-ovo sexed eggs won’t hit the marketplace until June 2.
Soundbite: “We are thrilled to introduce this revolutionary non-invasive in-ovo sexing technology to the United States. The high accuracy rate and unparalleled efficiency of this machine will undoubtedly transform the egg production industry with growing demand for welfare and sustainability practices in the poultry industry.” — Jörg Hurlin, Managing Director of AAT.