Sex of chicks can be determined already in the egg
So far in laying hens male offspring are sorted out immediately after hatching and then killed. They are usually gassed with carbon dioxide. In this way, losing in Germany alone each year about 40 50 to millions of male chicks, which are referred to as day-old chicks, their lives. The male offspring of laying hens, which can lay eggs on grounds of sex, found in chicken farming no use, since it is also not suitable for broiler production. Anne Weissmann, veterinarian at Veterinary Physiological Chemistry Institute of the University of Leipzig, developed in her PhD an investigation method by which the sex of future chickens can be determined with certainty in the egg before the tenth day of incubation. The time of ten days is important because after the pain of the embryos out forms in the egg. Total eggs are incubated 21 days.
In the method developed by Anne Weißmann, a 15 microliter drop of urine from the embryo is taken through a very small hole in the egg shell (diameter: one millimeter). "The embryo cannot be injured in the process," says Anne Weißmann. Sex hormones produced by the embryo and excreted in the urine can be detected in the drop. The accuracy of determining gender is 98 percent with this method. The additional costs for the chicken farmers compared to the previous method are a few cents.
The duration of the study, which is currently after collection of urine from the egg in about four hours, want to reduce still strong, the Leipzig researchers. "Our aim is that as in a pregnancy test, the result, whether it will be either male or female chicks similar, readily identifiable," says Almuth Einspanier. But already on the previous research results, which have now been published in the American journal "Theriogenology", the interest is very large.
Source: Leibzig [University]
