Artificial intelligence in poultry farming

In German breeding farms, about 100 million chicks are hatched every year. Because they do not lay eggs, the male day-old chicks are killed immediately after hatching. A research project of the Technical University of Munich wants to put an end to the controversial procedure.

Artificial Intelligence in Poultry Breeding AI in poultry breeding enables breakthrough in sex determination in chicken egg. (Photo credit: iStock.com / Tsekhmister)

In poultry breeding, a distinction is made between breeds that produce particularly good meat and those that are bred for egg laying. In broilers, both males and females are raised. In the case of laying hens, the male offspring are useless from an economic point of view, as they neither lay eggs nor produce much meat. They are therefore killed shortly after hatching. Even if the animals are usually not shredded, as was widely criticized in 2019 in the wake of an amendment to the law, but are mainly stunned with CO2 and gassed, the procedure is controversial.

Orbem Genus advocates for chicks

The "Orbem Genus" procedure developed by researchers at the Technical University of Munich aims to put an end to the unnecessary killing of nearly 50 million chicks per year in Germany. Orbem Genus makes it possible to identify the sex in the first days of incubation and determine the fertilization status in the poultry egg before incubation begins, without damaging the shell. At around 15 percent, unfertilized eggs account for a not inconsiderable proportion of all eggs and can be supplied to the trade, for example as breakfast eggs. The method uses magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and novel methods of artificial intelligence . Image evaluation and classification are completely automatic.

New standards for chicken farms

"The inventors have achieved a technological breakthrough that will set new standards, particularly in terms of process speed, cost and reliability," enthuses the managing director of the Bavarian Patent Alliance (BayPAT), Dr. Robert Phelps. The research team is currently working on setting up its own company. After the construction of an initial prototype, the aim is to create a market-ready product that can be offered to chicken farms so that they can carry out fully automated testing of chicken eggs directly on site. Orbem Genus is causing a stir worldwide and has already won several awards. Currently, the start-up is in the final round of the "IBM Watson AI XPrize", which is endowed with five million US dollars. The decision will be made in April 2020.

About Bayerische Patentallianz GmbH (BayPAT)

Bayerische Patentallianz GmbH (BayPAT) is accompanying the patenting process of Orbem Genus and is in charge of the marketing of the invention as well as the resulting property rights.

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Dr. Thomas Mendlik
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Website: www.baypat.de

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