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In poultry farming, in-ovo sexing is a chick sexing method carried out while chicks are still in ovo (Latin for "inside the egg"). There are various methods to determine a chick's sex in the 21-day incubation period before it hatches (born by emerging from its eggshell). In-ovo sexing technology has branched into two categories, invasive and non-invasive. The first invasive technology to be successfully commercially introduced for poultry farming was bio-market detection through the Dutch–German company Seleggt in November 2018. Meanwhile, the non-invasive in-ovo sexing technologies have been introduced to the market by the German start-up Orbem and AAT, a subsidiary of the EW Group. History Background The present-day ethical problem with egg production is chick culling of one-day-old male chicks, billions of male chicks that are killed as part of the production process each year. At the day the chicks hatch from their eggs the chicks are sexed. During chick sexing the day-old chicks are divided into male and female groups. Female chicks can be raised to become egg-laying hens, or broilers fed to be slaughtered for meat, both for human consumption; after the sexing, these female chicks are transported to the rearing farms where they are housed before they go to a laying hen farm or broiler farm. On the other hand, the male chicks are deemed to have much less economic value, as they cannot lay eggs and are usually less suited for meat production; most male chicks are therefore culled on the day they hatch after they have been sexed as male. Innovation in the poultry sector In-ovo gender determination has the potential to bring an end to the killing of billions of male chicks. It is estimated that yearly around 7 billion day-old male chicks are killed. Implementing in-ovo sexing into the poultry industry results in a more animal friendly and more sustainable production. More animal friendly because the day-old male chicks no longer need to be culled, and more sustainable because less energy is used because only the female eggs need to be further incubated after sexing. The male eggs are sorted out and can be used for different purposes such as an alternative high-value protein source. When there are no longer males that hatch, other innovations are also available to egg producers, such as on-farm hatching and in-ovo vaccination. Male-chick culling ban In January 2021, Germany was the first country to successfully outlaw the practice. A few months later, France also banned the one-day-old male chick slaughter. In 2022, the third country, Italy, followed the same steps, prohibiting the practice by 2026. In 2024, the UK government's official Animal Welfare Committee recommended that the UK ban chick culling, although their recommendation is not legally binding. In the US, male culling has received substantial attention from animal activists, although in-ovo sexing is not currently available. However, the egg industry has indicated that they will strongly support the adoption of this technology once it is available. A number of state governments in India have mandated that in-ovo sexing be used once it becomes available. Early technological breakthroughs Academic research For a long time, it was held impossible to determine the sex of the hatching egg before or during the hatching process. The poultry sector has been working on this for years in order to be able to phase out chick culling in the interest of animal welfare. Research has been conducted to achieve this goal. The first study on the matter, was published in 2013, for in-ovo sexing on day 9 of incubation. The researched procedure, later called bio-marker detection, used a hormonal test for the allantoic fluid of brown layers’ eggs. Further research was done by Prof. Dr. Einspanier following the same methodology. It is important to mention that hatcheability is affected by this in-ovo sexing method, as reported by Dr. Einspeiner. In 2016, the fluorescence spectroscopy methodology was developed, it analyzes the extraembryonic blood to determine the sex of the embryo through its blood wavelength. The supervised egg classification by a PC with a 93% error rate was able to determine the sex of 380 eggs at 3.5 incubation day. A variation of this methodology was explored in 2017. When the pattern analysis in hypersepctral images methodology was researched. First, the eggs would be candled with halogen lamps. Then, a hyperspectral camera would collect the transmitted light and the eggs would be classified using a linear discriminant analysis. This methodology could perform in-ovo sexing from 11-day up to 14-day embryos with a 97% accuracy. In 2019 a new methodology was developed, AI-powered imaging. By combining AI and MRI together to perform in-ovo sexing of 12-day-old eggs with 95% accuracy level. Since 2007 MRI was used as a valuable tool for studying egg development in a contactless manner. Yet it would not be until it was combined with AI that it could be used for large-scale purposes. First commercial application In 2018 Seleggt was the first company to succeed in commercial in-ovo sexing. Seleggt managed to sex the hatching eggs on day 9 of the incubation process with a hormone test. The method is based on the fundamental research of Prof. Dr. Einspanier at Leipzig University. From 8 November 2018, consumption eggs that are laid by the hens that have been sexed with the Seleggt method are to be found on the shelves of the German supermarket REWE, in the Berlin region. The eggs that have been sexed with the Seleggt method are sold under the label "Respeggt". This label guarantees the promise "Free of chick culling". Since 2018, Respeggt eggs have been available in Germany, France, and the Netherlands. European rollout Since the launch of in-ovo sexing in 2018 multiple companies have had success in Europe, implementing different methodologies and technologies for in-ovo sexing. As of September 2023, it was estimated that 15 per cent of the layer flock in Europe used in-ovo sexing, from five different companies. An in-ovo sexed chick is estimated to cost around $3.80, compared to $0.95 for a conventional chick. Since a chick lays around 350 eggs over its life, this means an additional 0.8 cents per table egg sold. These eggs then sell for around 1-3 additional cents per table egg, the difference including the additional margins from each part of the supply chain. Sex determination methods The in-ovo sexing technologies have evolved into two main categories: invasive and non-invasive. An invasive technology is any technology that creates damage to the egg through intrusive sampling and biochemical analysis for the in-ovo sexing process. Examples of these are biomarker detection, PCR, spectroscopy,  and endocrine method. The main drawbacks of invasive procedures is that, they may affect the eggs’ hatcheability and that the process implies a risk for bacterial infection. On the other hand, non-invasive .... Discover the David L Brown Kai A Schafft popular books. Find the top 100 most popular David L Brown Kai A Schafft books.