Responsible Solutions

Ultimately, success is measured in the wellbeing of animals, consumers and the environment

Through our innovations, investments and collaborations, we help to reshape entire industries, making them safer, more humane and more environmentally friendly. We commercialise pioneering solutions – such as gender identification in hatching eggs – to prove that people, planet and profit can indeed go hand in hand.

Pre-hatch gender identification: A new era for poultry

With the SELEGGT collaboration, we are working to prevent unnecessary disposing of male chicks at birth.

Since humans first began breeding poultry, the managing of male chicks has been a constant question for producers worldwide. Every year, between four and six billion newly hatched male chicks are killed at birth. With SELEGGT – a joint venture involving German supermarket chain REWE and the University of Leipzig – we have developed a market-ready method for gender identification in hatching eggs.

An innovative process

The SELEGGT method uses a laser to burn a 0.3-millimetre hole into the eggshell during the incubation phase, through which a small amount of fluid is extracted. This non-invasive procedure ensures the hatching egg remains untouched and unharmed. A marker is then used to indicate whether the sex-specific hormone ‘estrone sulphate’ can be detected in the hatching egg, indicating a female chick. Consequently, only female chicks hatch on the 21st day of the incubation. The remaining male eggs are separated and processed into high-quality animal feed.

A game changer for poultry producers

The first ‘no-kill’ eggs are already available at REWE supermarkets across Germany. They are marketed as ‘free-range respeggt-eggs’. Through intensive research and technological development, HatchTech has played a key role in bringing this innovative approach to the market. The patented process will be available to the first hatcheries from 2020.