A multiplexed chemical sensor system to automate non-invasive, in-ovo sex determination for the poultry industry

Commercially, chicks can only be sexed after they hatch, requiring producers to devote time and resources to incubating male chicks, only to cull them. Yearly, over six billion male layer chicks are culled when hatched because there is no commercial use for them. This research team is continuing development of an innovative microchip-based chemical sensor that captures volatile organic compounds (VOCs) released from individual eggs as early as eight days into incubation. Machine learning can interpret the VOCs to classify eggs by gender. This research is supporting the integration of microchip sensors with a custom automated egg handling machine that sorts the sexed eggs.

High-throughput in-ovo sexing of chicken eggs using hyperspectral imaging & Raman spectroscopy

Commercially, chicks can only be sexed after they hatch, requiring producers to devote time and resources to incubating male chicks, only to cull them. Yearly, over six billion male layer chicks are culled when hatched because there is no commercial use for them. This research team is using hyperspectral imaging and Raman spectroscopy to develop a commercially applicable optical technique for sexing hatching eggs by extracting and analyzing small droplets of the embryos’ allantoic fluid at the eighth day of incubation.

Project Ella

Commercially, chicks can only be sexed after they hatch, requiring producers to devote time and resources to incubating male chicks, only to cull them. Yearly, over six billion male layer chicks are culled when hatched because there is no commercial use for them. This research is further developing and scaling in-ovo sexing technology that measures a naturally occurring biomarker within the embryos’ waste fluid. This fluid differs between the sexes, allowing sorting the eggs by sex on the ninth day of development with high accuracy.

Egg-Tech Prize Phase II Finalists