At VIV Europe 2026, CEVA Animal Health highlighted the growing adoption of automated chick sex-sorting technology as hatcheries around the world face increasing labor shortages and rising demands for production efficiency.
Speaking with aviNews, Valentijn Crum explained how the company’s Genesis system is helping producers transition from manual feather-sexing methods to fully automated gender sorting. According to Crum, the trend is gaining momentum globally as hatcheries seek solutions that improve accuracy while reducing their dependence on skilled labor.
- Traditionally, chick sex sorting has relied on trained workers capable of identifying males and females based on feather characteristics.
- However, finding and retaining qualified personnel has become increasingly difficult, particularly as younger generations show less interest in hatchery work.
Automation offers a solution to this challenge
The Genesis system can process up to 50,000 chicks per hour, with some hatcheries operating multiple units to handle even larger volumes. By replacing manual sorting, hatcheries can significantly reduce labor requirements while maintaining consistent performance.
- Beyond labor savings, automated sex sorting provides important production benefits.
- Separating males and females allows producers to implement sex-specific feeding and management programs, helping optimize growth performance and feed conversion.
Perhaps most importantly, improved sexing accuracy contributes to greater flock uniformity. For processors, retailers, and foodservice companies, uniform carcass size is a critical requirement. Whether producing chicken wings, fillets, or other products, consistency helps meet market specifications and improves overall processing efficiency.
According to Crum, the Genesis system achieves accuracy levels above 97%, exceeding what is typically possible through manual sorting, particularly during long working shifts when fatigue can affect performance.
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The technology continues to evolve through the use of artificial intelligence and image analysis
By capturing multiple images of every chick and continuously expanding its database, CEVA Animal Health is able to refine its algorithms and further improve sorting performance over time.
As hatcheries continue to modernize and labor availability remains a challenge worldwide, automated sex-sorting solutions are becoming an increasingly important tool for improving efficiency, consistency, and profitability throughout the poultry production chain.