Egg Incubation Gender Sorting for Full Hatchery Utilization
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing hatcheries face inefficiencies in utilizing incubation and hatching devices due to the need to transfer eggs between different cabinets, resulting in underutilized capacity and the ethical and economic challenges of killing unwanted chicks, while early feeding is avoided to minimize waste.
Innovation Solution
The method involves dividing the incubation process into two periods, determining chick embryo gender during the first period, and redistributing eggs based on gender for optimized use of incubating and hatching devices, allowing for 100% capacity utilization and eliminating the need to kill healthy chicks.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If eggs are transferred between different cabinets for incubation and hatching, then the incubation and hatching processes can be carried out separately, but the capacity utilization of the cabinets is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines the incubation and hatching processes into a single cabinet by providing both incubation chambers and hatching chambers within the same device. This eliminates the need to transfer eggs between separate cabinets, thereby improving capacity utilization while maintaining the functional separation of incubation and hatching processes.
Solution Approach 2:
The cabinet is designed to perform multiple functions - both incubation and hatching - within the same device. The cabinet can accommodate eggs during incubation and then hatch them in the same cabinet, making the device universal and eliminating the need for separate dedicated incubation and hatching cabinets.
2Reliability
If early feeding is provided to all chicks including unwanted males, then chick health is improved, but feed waste increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs gender determination of chick embryos before hatching occurs. By identifying male and female embryos in advance, the system can prepare separately for their different fates - ensuring early feeding and care for female chicks while avoiding unnecessary feeding of male chicks that will be culled, thus preventing feed waste while maintaining chick health for desired genders.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts the male chick embryos from the population before hatching through gender determination. By separating the fate of male and female chicks at the embryonic stage, the system can provide early feeding and care exclusively to female chicks, eliminating feed waste on unwanted males while ensuring proper nutrition for desired females.
3Loss of substance
If incubation capacity is reduced to match production needs, then feed waste is minimized, but hatchery utilization efficiency decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs gender determination before hatching, allowing the hatchery to know in advance how many female chicks will be produced. This enables the hatchery to adjust the incubation capacity to match the actual production needs for female chicks, preventing over-incubation and subsequent feed waste while maintaining high utilization efficiency by avoiding unnecessary incubation of eggs that will produce unwanted males.
Data Source
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AI summary
The present invention relates to a method for producing poultry in, particular chicks, at a hatchery, the method comprising; a) incubating a batch of eggs in incubating trays in an incubating device during a first incubating period of between about 7 to about 11 days, and then, b) for each egg of the batch of eggs, determining of gender of the chick embryo, in particular after determination if the egg contains a well-developed or more specifically a living embryo, c)based on the gender of a chick embryo, dividing the batch of eggs into at least a male batch portion and a female batch portion.