December 20, 2022

 

Scientists genetically engineer hen to lay eggs that produce only female chicks

 

 

Scientists have genetically engineered a hen that lays eggs from which only female chicks hatch, Food Ingredients First reported.

 

The Golda hen was bred from a special technology that transfers a biological trait through sex chromosomes, which prevents the development of male embryos. In addition to reducing the many resources needed for hatching chicks, the costs of sorting and culling the day-old male chicks – which are considered an "unnecessary by-product" in the edible egg industry – will be reduced by almost half, the researchers behind the technology noted.

 

The new advancement for farmed poultry has drawn support from UK animal welfare group Compassion in World Farming.

 

"Compassion is usually extremely wary of gene editing but believes that in this exceptional case it is justified in potentially helping to prevent the killing of millions of day-old male chicks," the chief policy advisor at Compassion, Peter Stevenson, told FoodIngredientsFirst.

 

"Neither the chicks nor the eggs are gene edited," he highlighted. "It is only the hens that produce the female-only chicks that are gene edited. Compassion has given in-principle support to this development as it could lead to the end of the killing of male chicks."

 

"The next important step is to see whether the hen and the female chicks she produces - who will lay eggs for human consumption - can go through a commercial lifespan without any unexpected welfare issues arising."

 

The Golda hen was found to be successful in its female egg laying, and is currently breeding a new generation of chickens, completely identical to the breed of hens that lay edible eggs and are currently used in agriculture.

 

"In recent years, we have witnessed a change in awareness around the world regarding animal welfare, but on the other hand, no practical solutions have been found to stop the unfortunate phenomenon of killing the male chicks," said Yaarit Weinberg, chief executive officer of the Poultry Company.

 

The innovation is a result of the collaboration between the Huminn Company (formerly NRS) and the Volcanic Institute, an Israeli agri-food research hub.

 

"The scale of the egg-laying market in the world is estimated at about seven billion laying hens, and for each hen, a male chick is destroyed," said Dr. Yuval Cinnamon, founder and chief scientific officer at the Huminn Company.

 

"The production of edible eggs in the world is estimated at over two trillion eggs per year – over 80 million tonnes. I had the privilege of leading a team of excellent and dedicated researchers who developed a practical solution to an issue that affects every human being and so many animals."

 

The European Union's Directorate-General for Health and Food Safety has examined the technology and confirmed that the egg-laying process and the eggs can be commercialised. In recent years, there has been a growing demand from regulators and associations to solve the issue of culling male chicks.

 

The Golda hen's efficacy in streamlining production costs for poultry producers is timely as the industry has been recently hit by issues of inflation and avian influenza.

 

- Food Ingredients First