Europe’s largest hatchery – Verbeek, in Zeewold in the Netherlands – is to install a second machine for detecting the sex of chicks before they hatch.
The technology is supplied by the German respeggt group, and means the hatchery can avoid the culling of male chicks.
The two companies have been working together since October 2021, when the first SELEGGT Circuit machine for in-ovo sexing was installed at the hatchery in Zeewolde.
In the following months after the installation, the SELEGGT technology was used at full capacity to hatch chicks with Novogen genetics. The hens then go on to lay eggs that are marketed in Germany as being ‘Free of Chick Culling’.
“This will increase our capacity and also enable us to meet the demand for larger supplies of chicks selected using the SELEGGT process,” said Herman Brus, Managing Director of Verbeek
“We are pleased that we can now expand the range with a second machine and thus increase volumes while guaranteeing that we meet the requirements of the German market,” he says.