In-Ovo sexing for laying hen productions
Due to new global regulations related to poultry production and animal welfare, in recent years, special attention has been paid to the use or destination of male chicks from laying hens that we know are not suitable for egg production, and they are stigmatized to be used as meat producers.
However, today there are different solutions to this problem. For this reason, Dr. Edgar Oviedo, Technical Director of aviNews International, interviewed Ms. Kristin Höller, Head of Sales from the respeggt Group, to talk about the use of the in-ovo sexing technique in laying hen productions.
During this interview, Ms. Höller explained the main reasons for trying to implement in-ovo sexing in laying hen productions. She said that it is necessary to look a little bit at the breeding since there are specific breeds for chicken in egg production, and these breeds are the females that lay the eggs and the males that do not gain enough weight, which is not worthwhile economically to fatten them. Therefore this is the reason why male chicks are culled after hatching.
“Every year, around 300 million male chicks are killed in the European Union because it is not economical to fatten them. This is a big problem we want to stop, and this is the reason why we need to focus on in-ovo sexing technologies.”
Talking about the regulations in the European Union, Ms. Höller indicated that the practice of culling male chicks after hatching has been banned since January 1st, 2022, in Germany.
“This is a really big step forward in the right direction, and Germany is really a pioneer country on that.”
Other discussed topics were:
- Advantages and disadvantages of in-ovo sexing
- The ideal day to sex the eggs and physiological reasons
- Equipment used
- How long does the identification take? What is the speed of in-ovo sexing?
- Risk during gender identification
To check out the full interview, you can watch the video here or listen to the podcast on AgriFM.
It may interest you: Solutions for ending male chick culling in Germany
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