The Netherlands - Pluriton is the specialist in high-quality hatching eggs and day-old chicks of laying and meat breeds. These eggs and chicks come from their own hatcheries and production facilities, and find their way to poultry farmers all over the world. They believe in a healthy future for current and future generations. Besides that, Pluriton sees the added value of efficiency and automation. That is why they made the choice to install Genus Focus at their location in the Netherlands, so they can offer contactless in-ovo sexing to their Belgium and Dutch customers.

Genus Focus installation

One of Pluriton’s European locations, Bladel (Netherlands), will be equipped with the Genus Focus for in-ovo sexing. This represents an important step and is unique in the Dutch and Belgian markets. Indeed, the Genus Focus is the only contactless in-ovo sexing for all egg colors and poultry breeds, which does not influence hatchability. Furthermore, this innovation complies with the new German legislation. 

Cees Blankestijn, Managing Director Pluriton, says: “We are very pleased to be able to offer our customers this new sex determination technique, in addition to our other options.”

In-ovo sexing

The Genus Focus uses AI-driven MRI technology developed by Orbem, scanning and classifying eggs non-invasively. It is a safe imaging technology that, unlike X-ray or CT, does not emit ionizing radiation and therefore does not harm or affect the embryo or its development. Genus Focus analyses eggs during embryonic development on day 12 and before; resulting in classification of females, males and unfertilized eggs.

AI and MRI

Within one second, a combination of AI and MRI technologies determines an embryo's sex in the hatching egg - contactless and contamination-free. The process of supply and discharge is fully automated by Vencomatic Group. “In this way, we contribute to a sustainable poultry sector with a high level of automation.” emphasizes Lotte van de Ven, CEO of Vencomatic Group. Pedro Gómez, CEO of Orbem, is also enthusiastic: “We are very happy to install our first Genus Focus for in-ovo sexing in the Netherlands. It is just the beginning of a revolution in the poultry sector, with AI-driven MRI technology opening the door to a variety of valuable applications.”

Genus Focus in practice

Each module of the Genus Focus for in-ovo sexing can scan 3,000 eggs per hour and is scalable up to 8 modules for a combined throughput of 24,000 eggs per hour. Moreover, only one operator is needed to operate the Genus Focus. Meanwhile, more than 23 million eggs have already been scanned by the Genus Focus.