Contactless in ovo sex determination of chicken eggs

Abstract

We resume the research for contactless in ovo sex determination of the domestic chicken, which has the final aim to provide an alternative to day-old cockerels culling in the layer industry. In ovo Raman and fluorescence spectroscopy of blood of eggs incubated until day 3.5 enables correct sexing rates over 90% barely affecting the hatching rate. Full automatization of the processes to guarantee high sexing speed and fulfill industrial demands is required to allow transferring the technology inside the hatcheries in the next future.