Putting an end
to chick culling
The systematic culling of male chicks is about to phase out across Europe. Some countries and hatcheries have taken the lead and already banned this practice fully or partly, and more will follow suit. This is a huge poultry welfare milestone and leads to added value of eggs and poultry production. But we are not there yet. This is why we are on a welfare mission.
We are the frontrunner in gender determination in the egg, a technology we have been working on for over 12 years. Our expertise and years of research and development have led to a fast, accurate and effective solution for hatcheries. This is how we help egg producers stay ahead of the game and comply with upcoming regulations.
Our groundbreaking first solution
Meet Ella® our first high-tech solution to put an end to chick culling. In less than a second, this technology can see if an egg is female or male. This ensures only females are hatched, thereby preventing male chicks – which do not lay eggs – from being culled. The male eggs are removed on day 9 of the incubation period. Ella® is an inline, fully automated solution that can be easily integrated into existing hatchery processes.
- Unique, proprietary biomarker
- High-speed sampling
- Mass spectrometry
Join our team
current status
fully operational
Ella® is now fully operational and hatching hundreds of thousands of cull-free chicks per month in a commercial hatchery in the Netherlands. We are ready to further increase our impact and further roll-out of Ella® across Europe.
Our impact and mission are acknowledged. We have secured significant investments and won several awards so far, highlighting the relevance and importance of what we do.
- 2022 – production of cull-free chicks started at Het Anker hatchery in Ochten (the Netherlands).
- May 2023 – production capacity at Het Anker was doubled, resulting in the production of hundreds of thousands of cull-free chicks per month.
- Summer 2023 – installation of our fully automated Ella® egg sexing machine at Vepymo hatchery, part of Hendrix Genetics (Belgium).
- With increasing demand for cull-free eggs, we expect to install more Ella® machines in hatcheries across Europe.
Our investors
Want to improve the welfare of your chicks?
