In order to avoid killing young male chickens, we are in need of more feasible solutions – German agri-economist

On a yearly basis, very nearly 45 million young male chickens are killed in Germany. Their eggs are unsuitable for the market. New procedures for sex recognition should make sure that they may not be also bred. David Tedevosian/ Shutterstock

In a job interview with EURACTIV Germany, Dr Ludger Breloh, the handling director of this egg breeding company Seleggt Gmbh, spoke about Germany’s present decision to permit the mass killings of young male chickens and just how his company’s Seleggt process could possibly be used being a bridging technology until more commercially viable techniques are observed.

Dr Ludger Breloh, an agricultural economist, is the handling director of Seleggt GmbH, an associate associated with Rewe Group. Seleggt GmbH, in cooperation with all the University of Leipzig, is promoting the initial method that is operational very very early sex recognition in hen eggs.

Utilizing the Seleggt technique, the intercourse of a new chicken are determined within the egg. So how exactly does this work?

Our technique is better referred to as a hormonal, meaning a method that is hormone-based. We already know just that gender-specific hormones, such as for example oestrone sulphate, are actually contained in the non-incubated egg and tend to be just created when you look at the feminine egg.

To work on this, one should wait about nine times before the hormones are available in the egg in adequate volume. Then we draw out a small drop of fluid through the egg, which we mix with a marker that is biochemical.

This then shows, having a color modification, whether or not the sulphate that is oestrone current. Female eggs are then gone back to your incubator and hatched, while male eggs are prepared into animal feed.

To date, but, gender determination is not considered prepared for serial manufacturing, and just a supermarkets that are few these eggs. Exactly why is that?</p>

Within the last 2 yrs, we now have made amazing progress in refining our technology. We could now analyse around 3,000 eggs each hour, per machine.

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

Since February, nevertheless, we’ve been breeding on a bigger scale, with about 20,000-30,000 young feminine chickens hatching each week. By the end of July, the initial generation may be old sufficient to lay their particular eggs. There after, I will be seeing a number that is increasing of eggs available on the market. The Rewe Group has set it self the aim of offering these eggs in every its branches that are german the conclusion regarding the entire year.

Beginning the following year, we’ll then present while making our technology offered to hatcheries. In the beginning, this is carried out in a cost-neutral means.

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

Cost-neutral could possibly imply that you first need to make an advance re re payment. How come that the situation?

Our enterprize model is made from supermarkets spending us a licence charge – but only once the very first eggs are obtainable in supermarkets. We now have create a Respeggt logo design to demonstrate the consumer that the eggs had been produced without killing chickens that are young.

It is a definite added value as supermarkets can then get this marketable. Only then, will they spend us a licence charge because we made the hatching eggs offered by the beginning of the supply string.

The client, consequently, would additionally assist in preventing young birds from being slaughtered since the cost of eggs is going to be somewhat increased.

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

Yes, other methods are increasingly being investigated in eight or nine facilities global, including in Canada and Australia, but additionally when you look at the universities of Munich and Dresden. We cannot say more about these methods, because their development obviously happens in today’s world.

In just about any full situation, I would personally welcome it if other procedures were made in the marketplace. I’m not just worried about your competition, but additionally in regards to the dilemma of killing chickens that are young.

In all honesty, running the complete sector with just one technology could be a challenge that is serious.

Is the fact that since your reach continues to be too little?

Yes. We expect you’ll raise about 1.5 million chickens that are young our hatchery this season – that is merely a fall into the ocean if you think about that an overall total of 45 million young male chickens are now being gassed or shredded each year.

Which means that we shall desire a whole lot more time before reaching such high volumes. Just then will we manage to discuss about it a paradigm change. Rome wasn’t built in one day.

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If the Seleggt technology ended up being established, it had been labelled being a bridging technology until other solutions had been discovered. A different one of the could be the twin utilization of birds. Could that function as future of chicken agriculture?

The actual fact because we have been breeding two types of highly optimised, extremely productive chickens for decades: laying hens and broiler chickens that we even kill millions of young chickens at all is only.

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

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

Nonetheless, i am hoping that the reproduction companies continue steadily to work intensively about this problem to ensure we now have an economically viable solution for dual-use chickens.

Gender determination methods are simply a temporary solution and it could undoubtedly be much more sustainable and in most of y our interests when we could place an end to the killing of young birds.

Edited by Zoran Radosavljevic

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