Dutch agri-tech company, In Ovo has entered a €40 million loan agreement with the European Investment Bank (EIB) to end the culling of male chicks.
The funding will drive the expansion of Ella, a “fast and accurate” technology to determine the sex of hatching eggs at an early stage, according to In Ovo.
By utilising this technology hatcheries can “exclusively” hatch female chicks, which makes the culling of day-old chicks unnecessary and improves overall sustainability.
Male chicks
Globally, an estimated 6.5 billion male chicks are culled each year in the production of laying hens, In Ovo, which focuses on developing solutions to enhance animal welfare and sustainability in the poultry sector, said.
Following nearly a decade of development, In Ovo’s Ella machine achieved a “major milestone” in 2020 by producing the first “girls only” chicks.
The loan will allow In Ovo to further develop its technology pipeline and become a “worldwide player, positively impacting animals throughout the food production channel”, founder Wouter Bruins said.
“Ensuring that Europe’s animal welfare standards are amongst the highest in the world is a priority for us,” EU Commissioner for Health and Food Safety, Stella Kyriakides, said.
“With this technology we will be avoiding the systematic killing of millions of male chicks throughout the European Union.
“This is a major step in our work to strengthen animal welfare standards in our union,” Commissioner Kyriakides added.
Beyond Ella, the loan will be used to further develop Eve, which is In Ovo’s sensor platform that optimises the full hatching process, allowing hatcheries to produce more and healthier chicks.
