SEXING SOLUTION

Solving the need for
mass sorting and culling
day-old male chicks

In association with

The Problem

Unwanted by the egg and meat industries, ~7 billion male chicks are culled around the world annually by inhumane and costly methods

Inhumane

7 Billion

Male chicks culled globally (2016)

via high-speed maceration, asphyxiation, electric shock, and other means

Costly

~7 Billion

Industry costs due to male chick culling

A global 50% increase in demand for eggs from 2020 to 2035 will exacerbate the issue of male chick culling at a faster pace

Our Solution

Our sustainable sexing solution hatches only female chicks,
removing the need for male chick culling altogether.



By integrating our technology into your line:

 

  • Our female layer breed will lay eggs, from which only wild-type female layers will hatch
  • Male embryo will cease developing in early stage of embryonic development and will not hatch, eliminating the need for sexing, sorting and culling
  • Both the egg-layer hens and the table-eggs that they lay are non-GMO, and are genetically identical to the egg-layers and eggs currently used in the industry

Technology

We hatch only female chicks by targeting only male chromosomes in the breeding line

1

Change to Female Parent

NextHen utilizes technologies to affect a change to only the female parental Z chromosome which segregates only to male embryos. Due to chromosomal segregation, female layers will never be affected by this change.

2

Only Female Layers Hatch

Male eggs will cease development at a very early stage of embryonic development due to the maternal Z chromosome. Non-GMO female embryos, receiving only wild-type W chromosomes, will normally hatch and develop without containing GMO.

3

Non-GMO Poultry Products

Non-GMO female chickens will create poultry products for household use.
Male eggs that do not hatch will contain traces of GMO and can be used for alternative uses (e.g. animal feed), depending on local regulation.

Solution

Potential doubling of egg-production capacities

The only solution that prevents male chicks from hatching and eliminates sorting and culling

End to end solution taking into consideration the current production process in the poultry industry

Applied at breeding levels our technology causes only minimal changes to processes used currently in the industry

Ease of integration into the industry interface, only applying minor or no adjustments

Potential savings of 50% in incubation space, significant reductions in egg production costs, and considerable improvement to global sustainability 

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