To provide a convenient, rapid, and reliable method for determining one or more properties of a
bird egg, especially a chicken egg, and / or one or more properties of a bird
embryo inside the egg, especially a chicken
embryo. [Solution] A non-invasive method for determining one or more properties of a
bird egg, particularly a chicken egg, and / or one or more properties of a bird
embryo inside the egg, particularly a chicken embryo, using near-IR
spectroscopy is described herein. More specifically, a non-invasive method for determining the sex of a bird embryo inside a bird embryo, particularly a chicken embryo, is described herein. Furthermore, a
system for non-invasively determining one or more properties of a
bird egg, particularly a chicken egg, and / or one or more properties of a bird embryo inside the egg, particularly a chicken embryo, is described herein, as is the use of a
spectrometer selected from a multi-channel
spectrometer, a miniature
diffraction grating spectrometer, and a monolithic miniature spectrometer, and in particular a
computer program therefor, in the
system and / or method described herein.