AUTOMATED SYSTEMS FOR POULTRY EMBRYO VIABILITY DETECTION

THERE IS A NEED IN THE POULTRY INDUSTRY FOR AN AUTOMATED SYSTEM THAT WILL RELIABLY DISCRIMINATE BETWEEN LIVE AND DEADEGGS DURING INCUBATION TO ALLOW REMOVAL OF DEAD AND INFERTILE EGGS THAT WOULD OTHERWISE USE VALUABLE SPACE AND SERVE AS A SOURCE OF CONTAMINATION IN INCUBATORS. THE INCUBATION AND INJECTION OF DEAD, CONTAMINATED EGGS CAN CONTAMINATE INCUBATIORS AND IN OVO INJECTION SYSTEMS AND SPREAD DISEASE AGENTS TO EGGS WHICH ARE SUBSEQUENTLY INCUBATED AND/OR INJECTED BY THE SYSTEM. A SUCCESSFUL AUTOMATIC EGG VIABILITY DETECTOR SYSTME MUST BE MORE ACCURATE, RELIABLE, AND COST EFFECTIVE THAN THE MANUAL DISCRIMINATION SYSTEM (CANDLERS) CURRENTLY USED IN THE POULTRY INDUSTRY. EMBREX IS DEVELOPING THE CONCEPT OF VIABILITY DISCRIMINATION BY RELATIVE EGG TEMPERATURE. MANUALLY COLLECTED DATA SHOWS THE VALIDITY OF THIS CONCEPT. COMMERCIAL MACHINES WILL BE MARKETED AS STAND-ALONE DEVICE AND AS AN INTEGRAL PART OF AN IN OVO VACCINATION SYSTEM. IN PHASE I EMBREX WILL BUILD A SEMIAUTOMATIC MACHINE CAPABLEOF MEASURING TEMPERATURES OF INCUBATING EGGS AND WILL USE THIS MACHINE TO COLLECT DATA TO VERIFY THE RELATIVE TEMPERATURE DISCRIMINATION METHOD. THIS DATA WILL ALLOW DESIGN OF A COMPUTER DISCRIMINATION ALGORITHM. PHASE II WILL DESIGN, BUILD AND HATCHERY TEST A FULLY AUTOMATIC, 20,000 EGGS PER HOUR MACHINE WHICH DETECTS AND MARKS INFERTILE, DEAD AND CONTAMINATED EGGS. IN PHASE III THE EMBRYO VIABILITY DETECTOR WILL BE MARKETED AS BOTH A STAND-ALONE MACHINE AND AS PART OF EMBREX'S IN OVO EGG VACCINATION AND INJECTION SYSTEM.