Prof. Dr. Almuth Einspanier, Leipzig University

”Ever since 2011, we have been researching a process that will enable us reliably to determine the sex of a chicken by hormone analysis before it hatches. We are passionate about this work because we so much want to find a practicable means of ending the wholesale killing of male chicks in the poultry industry.

To validate our endocrinological procedure, we tested more than 10,000 eggs manually as early as 2013. Every single egg was punctured by hand with a tool to remove samples for our investigations. We were able to achieve 98% certain prognosis of sex on the 9th day of incubation. It was clear from the very beginning of the research that not only the actual manual puncture but also the time it took would, in practice, be an almost insuperable hurdle.

In IMMS we found a partner to investigate with us whether mechanised, multiple sampling might be feasible in principle. The outcome was a prototype which, in the design of the machine, makes use of our experience from the manual experiments. When a stack containing 75 eggs is put into it, five eggs in a row are punctured and from each the sample is removed and injected into a well plate. The well plate is full after 15 cycles and can be used for the hormone-based analysis. We tested the prototype in a number of eminently successful experiments. The results were pleasing. More than 2,000 eggs were sampled; the hatching rate was 86.5% and the sampling success 89.5% and the hormone-based sex determination 95% correct.

We were very satisfied with this outcome, to which the very nature of the cooperation, always so positive, contributed. From the very start, information and knowledge was exchanged on a regular basis so that the IMMS staff were immersed in the science, vocabulary and principles of our discipline. As we acquired new knowledge in the course of the project, IMMS always reacted flexibly, finding relevant solutions in response. We should like to express our gratitude to the Institute for the outstandingly constructive collaboration.

After this crucial initial step towards automation we have already succeeded in incorporating the results and experiments into new developmental work with a specialist manufacturer of hatchery equipment.“