To prevent killing young male chickens, we are in need of more feasible solutions – German agri-economist

Each year, nearly 45 million young male chickens are killed in Germany. Their eggs are unsuitable when it comes to market. New procedures for sex recognition should make certain that they are not also bred. David Tedevosian/ Shutterstock

The managing director of the egg breeding company Seleggt Gmbh, spoke about Germany’s recent decision to allow the mass killings of young male chickens and how his company’s Seleggt process could be used as a bridging technology until more commercially viable methods are found in an interview with EURACTIV Germany, Dr Ludger Breloh.

Dr Ludger Breloh, an agricultural economist, is the handling director of Seleggt GmbH, a part of this Rewe Group. Seleggt GmbH, in cooperation aided by the University of Leipzig, is promoting the very first method that is operational very early sex recognition in hen eggs.

Aided by the Seleggt technique, the intercourse of a new chicken may be determined into the egg. How can this work?

Our technique is better referred to as a hormonal, meaning a method that is hormone-based. We already fully know that gender-specific hormones, such as for example oestrone sulphate, happen to be contained in the non-incubated egg and therefore are just created within the egg that is female.

For this, one should wait about nine foreign brides times before the hormones are located in the egg in enough volume. Then we draw out a little fall of fluid through the egg, which we mix with a biochemical marker.

This then suggests, with a color change, if the oestrone sulphate is current. Female eggs are then returned towards the incubator and hatched, while male eggs are prepared into animal feed.

Up to now, nonetheless, gender determination will not be considered prepared for serial manufacturing, and just a few supermarkets provide these eggs. Exactly why is that?</p>

Within the last couple of years, we now have made amazing progress in refining our technology. We could now analyse around 3,000 eggs each hour, per device.

But, the procedure has just been found in our hatchery that is in-house so. Our birds lay so-called Respeggt eggs, that are currently offered in about 380 supermarkets in the greater Berlin area today. The reality that these eggs just occur here, for the present time, is simply because the true number of laying hens remains workable.

Since February, nevertheless, we’ve been breeding on a more substantial scale, with about 20,000-30,000 young chickens that are female each week. Because of the end of July, the very first generation are going to be of sufficient age to lay their particular eggs. After that, I will be seeing a number that is increasing of eggs in the marketplace. The Rewe Group has set it self the aim of attempting to sell these eggs in every its German branches by the finish associated with entire year.

Starting the following year, we shall then provide making our technology open to hatcheries. In the beginning, this is carried out in a way that is cost-neutral.

Respeggt eggs will, consequently, be slowly in the marketplace.

Cost-neutral could possibly imply that you first need certainly to make an advance re re payment. Exactly why is that the truth?

Our business structure consist of supermarkets spending us a licence fee – but only if the eggs that are first obtainable in supermarkets. We have developed a Respeggt logo design to exhibit the client that the eggs were produced without killing young birds.

This will be a clear added value as supermarkets can then get this to marketable. Just then, will they spend us a licence cost because the hatching was made by us eggs offered at the start of the supply string.

The client, consequently, would additionally help alleviate problems with chickens that are young being slaughtered as the cost of eggs will likely to be somewhat increased.

Any kind of other options for the detection that is early of being developed?

Yes, other practices are increasingly being investigated in eight or nine facilities worldwide, including in Canada and Australia, but additionally within the universities of Munich and Dresden. We cannot say more info on these methods, as his or her development obviously happens in today’s world.

In just about any situation, I would personally welcome it if other procedures were made available. I will be maybe not just concerned with your competitors, but in addition in regards to the problem of killing chickens that are young.

To tell the truth, running the whole sector with an individual technology could be a challenge that is serious.

Is because your reach remains too tiny?

Yes. We be prepared to raise about 1.5 million young birds in our hatchery this season – that is a drop into the ocean considering that a complete of 45 million young male chickens are being gassed or shredded each year.

Which means we shall desire a lot more time before reaching such high volumes. Just then will we have the ability to talk about a paradigm change. Rome had not been built in one day.

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Whenever Seleggt technology ended up being established, it had been labelled as a bridging technology until other solutions had been found. A different one of the could be the use that is dual of. Could that function as the future of chicken agriculture?

The simple fact that people also destroy an incredible number of young birds at all is because we’ve been breeding two forms of very optimised, exceedingly effective birds for decades: laying hens and broiler birds.

Here is the way that is only can create really cheap eggs and chicken meat. The rational objective, needless to say, is to breed hens which have an excellent laying performance, while their brothers have fattening performance that is high. That appears like a jack-of-all-trades kind of unit and that’s just what it is.

Being an agricultural scientist having a PhD in farming, I am able to inform you that we now have complementary properties that rule out of the possibility that a hen can both lay eggs productively, while additionally building muscle that is sufficient. Just one or one other.

Nonetheless, i really hope that the reproduction businesses continue steadily to work intensively with this problem in order that we now have an economically viable solution for dual-use chickens.

Gender dedication methods are simply a solution that is temporary it could undoubtedly be much more sustainable and in most of y our passions whenever we could place an end to the killing of young birds.

Edited by Zoran Radosavljevic

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