The challenge

Handling of rejected embryos
in an animal welfare friendly way

The aim of in ovo sex determination in chicken hatching eggs is to detect male embryos and terminate their development at an early stage of incubation to avoid culling day-old-chicks after hatch. None of the market-ready methods that are currently being used are applicable in the first trimester of incubation.

In the discussion about the onset of pain perception, the question arises as how to handle the rejected male embryos in methods that are used from the seventh day of incubation onwards. Although numerous studies point to a definite absence of pain perception in the chicken embryo in the first trimester of incubation, there are no reliable findings on pain perception in the chicken embryo for the period of the second trimester of incubation. For sex determination methods that are used after the seventh day of incubation, a solution is sought to interrupt the development of the male embryos in an animal welfare friendly and consumer acceptable manner.