Year Awarded 2019
FFAR award amount $400,000
Total award amount $1,149,911
Location Munich, Germany
Program Egg-Tech Prize
Matching Funders Open Philanthropy
Grantee Institution Orbem AI
As only female chicks are used for egg production, male chicks are culled after hatching. FFAR's Egg-Tech Prize is developing technology that can determine a chick’s sex before it hatches so male egg can be used for other purposes. Scientists at Orbem Ai are developing specialized technology to examine the organ development of embryos and detect physical differences between the males and females. This project is one of the six Phase I winners, who received funding to develop the necessary technology to compete for the Prize.
Grant OutcomeThis project showed that technology combining accelerated magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with advanced artificial intelligence can safely and accurately determine the sex of a chick while it is still inside the egg, without harming the embryo or affecting hatch rates. This research could help hatcheries operate more efficiently by eliminating the need to cull male chicks, improving animal welfare and making egg production more sustainable.