JP6930727B2 - Gender-oriented selection device for seed eggs before laying eggs - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an apparatus for selecting a group of eggs that have a high rate of hatching of chicks of a specific sex from among the eggs before incubation at the hatchery.

A line of chickens raised in a poultry farm for the production of edible eggs is called an egg-collecting chicken (layer). A line of chickens raised in a poultry farm for the production of meat is called a meat chicken (broiler). Below, the current situation and issues will be described separately for egg-collecting chickens and meat chickens.

Producers of edible eggs purchase chicks of practical chickens from breeding chicken companies that raise breeding chickens that are parents of practical chickens for egg collection, raise them to large chicks, and use them for the production of edible eggs. There is.
In a breeding company, a farm where a flock of parents of practical chickens is bred is called a breeding farm. Eggs laid on a breeding farm are called breeding eggs, and are once collected at an egg storage site and then placed in an incubator at the hatchery through a process called preheating. The chicks hatch after heating for about 21 days after incubation at the hatchery.

In the case of hens, the economic value of male chicks is poor. This is because, of course, it cannot be used for the purpose of egg collection, and even if it is used for meat, its weight gain is inferior to that of chickens for meat. Therefore, hatched male chicks are discarded after sexing. In Japan, more than 100 million male chicks are discarded annually, which is not only an economic loss such as the incubation cost of males, which accounts for about half, but also a problem from the viewpoint of bioethics. Has been done.

If the sex of the hatching chicks can be predicted with a high probability at the egg stage before laying eggs, it is possible to sell eggs with a high hatching rate of males as edible eggs, which is an economical loss. Eggs can be reduced, new profits can be secured, and bioethical problems can be alleviated.

For meat chickens, both male and female chicks are available, but males and females may be preferred due to differences in meat quality and fattening period. Given the limited capacity of the incubation and poultry farm facilities, it is desirable to produce more meat of the market-favorite gender in order to increase profits by meeting such demands.

Therefore, even in the case of meat chickens, if the sex of the hatching chicks can be predicted with high probability at the egg stage before the start of hatching, the chicks of the sex that is not preferred as meat quality at that time will be selected. By selling the egg with the higher hatching rate as an edible egg, it is possible to reduce economic loss and secure new profits.

From the above, in the case of both egg-collecting chickens and meat chickens, it is desirable to have a method that can select a group of seed eggs that have a high rate of hatching of chicks of a specific gender at the egg stage before they are placed in the incubator. It is rare.

Since ancient times, attempts have been made to predict the sex of chicks based on the shape of the egg before the start of incubation. This is because in an era when non-destructive inspection technology for egg attributes was underdeveloped, the attribute that people could easily observe was the shape of the egg.

Even in Japanese patent documents, attempts to predict the sex of chicks based on the shape of the egg can be traced. Patent Documents 1, 2, 3 and 4 describe a method of predicting sex using a two-dimensional cross-sectional shape including the long axis of an egg. It is also known that an egg is photographed from a plurality of directions to obtain a three-dimensional shape of the egg, and the strain of the three-dimensional shape is measured to predict male and female (Patent Documents 5 and 6).

Furthermore, as another method for determining the sex of the embryo inside the egg during hatching, the extraembryo body fluid in the egg is collected when the injection needle is inserted at the time of vaccination, and the difference in sex-related hormones in the body fluid is obtained. (Patent Document 7), or the eggs on the 3rd day after laying eggs are pierced with a laser to make holes in the individual eggshells, and then the eggs are irradiated with light in the near-infrared region. It is also known that the reflected light from the blood cells of the embryo in the egg is analyzed by a technique of Raman spectroscopic analysis to determine whether the embryo is male or female (Non-Patent Document 1).

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 52-16380 Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 1-55131 Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2001-238559 Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2003-247491 Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2010-38897 Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2011-142866 Japanese Patent No. 3293834

“Germany Aims for Chicken Sexing in the Egg by 2016”, [online], April 1, 2015, The Poultry Site, [Search April 1, 2016], Internet <URL: http://www.thepoultrysite .com / poultrynews / 34471 / germany-aims-for-chicken-sexing-in-the-egg-by-2016 /> Paul S. Mead, Martin L Morton, Brain E. Fish, “Sexual dimorphic in eggs size and implications regarding facultative manipulation of sex in mountain white-crowned sparrows”, [online], 1987, The Cooper Ornitholohical Society, [2016 Searched on April 1, 2014], Internet <URL: https://sora.unm.edu/sites/default/files/journals/condor/v089n04/p0798-p0803.pdf/> DJ Anderson & J. Reeve DMBird, “Sexually dimorphic eggs, nestling growth and sibling competition in American Kestrel Falco sparverius”, [online], June 1997, Functional Ecology, Vol.11 No.3, [2016 4 Search on the 1st of the month], Internet <URL: http://users.wfu.edu/djanders/labweb/reprints/Anderson%20et%20al%201997%20FE.pdf> RL Young & AVBadyaev, “Evolution of sex-biased maternal effects in birds: Sex-specific resource allocation among simultaneously growing oocytes”, [online], 2004, [Searched April 1, 2016], Internet <URL: http://users.wfu.edu/djanders/labweb/reprints/Anderson%20et%20al%201997%20FE.pdf ＞

All of the methods listed above had many problems in their practical application. Therefore, the present invention presents at least the rate at which chicks of a particular gender hatch in a commercial-based hatchery in a fast and non-invasive manner from a group of eggs (raw eggs) stored before being placed in an incubator. The purpose is to select a collection of high incubation eggs.

The sex-oriented selection device for seed eggs of the present invention hatches from the seed egg to be inspected based on the estimation means for nondestructively estimating the yolk ratio of the seed egg to be inspected before being placed in the incubator and the estimated value of the yolk ratio. It is equipped with a selection means that predicts the sex of the chicks to be hatched and selects the yolks of one sex. Here, "gender-oriented" means a state in which one gender is emphasized, in other words, a state in which one gender is biased toward the seed egg.

According to the present invention, at least in a commercial-based hatchery, a high proportion of chicks of a particular gender hatch in a fast and non-invasive manner from a group of eggs stored before being placed in an incubator. You can select a gathering.

The figure which shows the correspondence relationship between the shank length and the conversion rate by sex of the chicks just after hatching of the meat chicken used for the concept explanation. The figure which shows typically the structure of the measuring apparatus of the spectroscopic spectrum of the seed egg used in the verification experiment. The graph which shows the absorbance spectrum of the egg used in the verification experiment. The graph which shows the normalized absorbance spectrum of the egg used in the verification experiment. The graph which shows the result of having obtained the correlation coefficient of the normalized absorbance of the egg used in the verification experiment, and the yolk ratio for each wavelength. The graph which shows the absorbance spectrum of the egg yolk alone used in the verification experiment. A scatter plot showing the relationship between the normalized absorbance of the eggs used in the verification experiment at 508 nm and the yolk ratio. The graph which shows the absorbance spectrum of the chicken sire used for the verification experiment. The graph which shows the p-value of the result of having examined the presence or absence of the sex difference in the absorbance for each wavelength of the chicken egg for meat used in the verification experiment by t-test. The graph which shows the absorbance spectrum of the hen's seed egg used for the verification experiment. The schematic diagram of a part of the seed egg sorting and collecting apparatus (grader) which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. The figure which shows the relationship between the difference absorbance and the sex judgment by sex of the breeding egg of a meat chicken which concerns on one experimental example of this invention. The figure which shows the relationship between the difference absorbance and the sex determination of the hen's seed egg according to one experimental example of this invention by sex.

<Conceptual explanation>
Before entering the incubator, the egg has an egg yolk in the center, the egg white wraps the yolk, and the eggshell wraps and protects the outside. There is a scutellum on the yolk, and when it is placed in an incubator, the cleavage of the scutellum progresses, and eventually the embryo and the blood vessels around it are formed.

Egg yolks and egg whites supply materials such as muscles for embryos to grow and eventually become chicks, as well as energy for life support. Eggshells are also a material that supplies calcium to form the skeleton of chicks. That is, the yolk, egg white, and eggshell in the egg are necessary materials for the growth of chicks. The quality and size of the hatching chicks depends on the amount of material present inside the egg before it is laid.

There are many sexual dimorphisms in birds, such as chickens, whose adult appearance differs greatly between males and females. Therefore, in the case of birds with larger skeletons in males, it is considered that there is already a significant male-female difference in skeleton at the stage of chicks immediately after hatching. In fact, in the case of chickens, the inventor of the present invention has already significantly increased the shin length of male chicks to the shin length of female chicks at the stage of chicks immediately after hatching in both hens and meat chickens. I confirmed that it was long. The length of the chick's shin is known to be proportional to the length of the entire skeleton, which indicates that in the formation of the skeleton during incubation, the skeleton of male chicks in both hens and meat chickens It was found to be significantly larger than the skeleton of female chicks.

Hereinafter, an experimental example in the case of a meat chicken to support this will be described. Fifty-two meat chicken eggs were prepared and the egg weight and absorbance spectra of all eggs were measured before being placed in the incubator. After that, through the pre-warming step, the eggs were placed in an incubator to start heating, and on the 18th day of egg-laying, the eggs were transferred from the setter tray to the hatch tray. The egg weight was measured again at the time of egg transfer. Forty-six chicks hatched on the 21st day of egg laying. The feathers were weighed dry before feeding the hatched chicks.
In addition, the length of the chick's shin was measured to measure the size of the chick's skeleton. This shin length, called the shank length, is known to be highly correlated with the overall size of the chick skeleton.
The meat chicken used this time was a type that can distinguish the sex of the chicks by the shape of the tip of the feather, so the sex was differentiated by the difference in the shape of the tip of the feather 2 days after hatching, which clearly shows the characteristics. As a result, of the 46 birds, 25 were female and 21 were male.

The conversion rate defined by the following equation was calculated to see the efficiency with which the substance prepared in the egg before laying was converted into the body of the chick.
FIG. 1 shows a scatter plot in which the conversion rate = the body weight of the chick immediately after hatching / the egg weight shank length before egg laying is taken on the horizontal axis, and the conversion rate is taken on the vertical axis. The double circle plot in the figure represents the male chick, and the black triangle plot in the figure represents the female chick. As can be seen from the scatter plot, males are superior in both conversion rate and shank length.

The field of statistics to assess whether there are statistically significant differences between male and female chicks in the distribution of attribute values such as shank length and conversion rate, that is, gender differences. The well-known t-test was performed in.
As a result, in the case of the shank length, it can be said that "male chicks have a significantly longer shank length than female chicks (p <0.01)". That is, male chicks have a significantly larger skeleton than female chicks.
It was also found that the conversion rate can be said to be "significantly higher in male chicks than in female chicks (p <0.03)". That is, it can be said that the male chicks utilize the materials and eggshells in the eggs significantly more efficiently for the formation of the chicks' bodies than the female chicks.

Experiments similar to this are also being conducted for hens.

採卵鶏の場合に孵卵中の卵内物質の全身への変換率が、メス優位である理由は、産卵性能の良いメスを作り出そうとした育種選抜の結果であると考えられる。 As a result, in the case of meat chickens, the conversion rate of male chicks was significantly higher than that of female chicks, but conversely, in the case of egg-laying chickens used in the experiment, female chicks were compared with male chicks. It was found that the conversion rate was significantly high. That is, in the case of meat chickens, the conversion rate of the intra-egg substance during incubation to the whole body is higher than that of the female in the male, and in the case of the egg-collecting chicken, the conversion rate of the intra-egg substance during incubation into the whole body is higher than that of the female. Turned out to be better than the male.

In the case of hens, the reason why the conversion rate of the substance in the egg during incubation to the whole body is predominant in females is considered to be the result of breeding selection to produce females with good egg-laying performance.

Therefore, the inventor found that the skeletal and flesh sex differences seen in chicks immediately after hatching are based on the transfer of intra-egg substances during incubation to the body of the chicks, but the amount of intra-egg substances that are the basis for this is the time of spawning. I thought that there might already be a gender difference. That is, in the process of egg formation in the body of the parent bird, the parent bird forms a biased egg by giving preferential treatment to one gender and giving more material to the preferential gender, and as a result. , I hypothesized that there may be a difference in the amount of eggshell and yolk, which are the materials for bones and muscles, immediately after spawning.

One of the reasons why mammals can be considered in this way is that the sex-determining pattern of mammals is male heterotype, whereas birds are female heterotype, and females are given preferential treatment to one gender at the stage of egg formation. Because it is possible to give.

Another reason is that many wild bird studies have reported gender differences in the outer shape of eggs. Non-Patent Documents 2 and 3 report cases in which the volume of a male egg is significantly larger than that of a female egg. In particular, in Non-Patent Document 4, in the study of house finch (scientific name: Carpodacus mexicanus), it is found that there is a difference between the yolk for male chicks and the yolk for female chicks at the stage of yolk formation in the ovary of the parent bird. It has been reported. As described above, in the case of wild birds, there are cases in which female birds give preferential treatment to one of the sexes in the process of egg formation in the body of the parent bird of the egg.
Hereinafter, in the present specification, the gender of the preferential side in the process of egg formation in the body of the parent bird is referred to as "preferred gender". In addition, the case where males are given preferential treatment is called "male dominance", and the case where females are given preferential treatment is called "female dominance".

Female birds give more material to the sex-side eggs, which are favored during the egg formation process, through the yolk and eggshell to make the chick's body. However, on the other hand, since the size of the body and reproductive organs of each female individual is fixed, there is no gender difference in the weight (egg weight) or volume, which is the size of the entire egg laid by the individual. Gender differences appear in the proportion of yolk to the total size of the egg. Since there are volumes and weights in expressions that express the size of an egg and the size of an egg yolk, the definition of "egg yolk ratio", which is the ratio of egg yolk to the whole egg, also includes egg yolk egg weight ratio = egg yolk weight / other than egg weight. NS
Egg yolk / egg white ratio = egg yolk weight / egg white weight Egg yolk volume ratio = egg yolk volume / egg volume, etc. can be considered. However, these values have a strong correlation and also represent the "yolk ratio", which is the ratio of yolk to the whole egg. Hereinafter, in the embodiment of the present specification, the egg yolk egg weight ratio will be described, but various other "yolk ratios" representing the "nutrient bias" of the egg can be applied.

In the case of chicken eggs, there is no significant gender difference in egg volume and weight as in the case of wild birds. However, the inventor considered that the meat chickens were predominantly male and the hens were predominantly female, based on the gender differences seen in the chicks immediately after the emergence in Table 1 on the previous page. Therefore, it was considered that there was a gender difference in the ratio of yolk to egg yolk, that is, the yolk egg weight ratio, and the yolk egg weight ratio was high on the preferential gender side. Then, after identifying the preferential gender, if the preferential gender is male, if an egg with a high yolk egg weight ratio is selected, a group of seed eggs with a high rate of hatching of male chicks is selected, and vice versa. If the sex of the preferential side is female, it is possible to select a group of seed eggs with a high rate of hatching of male chicks by selecting eggs with a low yolk egg weight ratio.

<Verification experiment>
First, it will be described that the wavelength used in the gender-oriented selection apparatus shown in the present embodiment described later is related to the size of the yolk.
The "seed egg to be inspected" of the present invention is an egg before being placed in an incubator (before incubation), and has the same structure as an edible egg. Therefore, as an egg with a clear difference in the quantitative composition of egg yolk and egg white, two yellow eggs were used in the experiment and compared with normal eggs.
A two-yellow egg is an egg having two yolks in the egg, and tends to be often seen in young parents. In the case of chicken eggs, the average value of the yolk egg weight ratio of the two yolk eggs is about 34%, which is higher than the average value of 27% in the case of normal eggs. On the other hand, two yellow eggs tend to have a large egg weight. The eggs used in the experiment weighed 80 g to 105 g. Therefore, as normal eggs to be compared, 80 g to 90 g (large eggs) of the same size as the two yellow eggs were prepared in addition to the M size eggs (58 g to 64 g).
There was only one yolk in the large egg, and the yolk weight ratio was about 22%, which was even lower than that of normal eggs.

First, as shown in FIG. 2, the egg was irradiated with the light of a halogen lamp light source from the side, and the transmitted light from the egg was separated by a spectroscope to measure the spectral data of the transmitted light. The transmittance can be converted to absorbance by obtaining the common logarithm of the reciprocal.

In addition to the transmittance of the egg, the light receiving portion is affected by individual differences in the light emission intensity of the light source and individual differences in the light receiving sensitivity of the light receiving portion. Therefore, a simulated egg made of a synthetic resin (polytetrafluoroethylene) block is placed, and the voltage value of the light receiving part in the case of the simulated egg is obtained in advance as a reference voltage value, and the light receiving part at the time of measuring the egg is obtained. By converting the voltage value of the above into the relative transmittance obtained by dividing by the reference voltage value, the problem of the influence of individual differences of such a device can be solved.
The relative transmittance can be converted into the relative absorbance by taking the common logarithm of the reciprocal of the relative transmittance. Hereinafter, the relative transmittance and the relative absorbance are simply referred to as the transmittance or the absorbance.

Hereinafter, the spectral spectrum of an egg is a spectrum of transmittance or absorbance. In the present embodiment, in the wavelength range of 400 nm to 900 nm, the spectral data of the egg is divided by the spectral data of the simulated egg made of the synthetic resin block in 1 nm increments, and the absorbance spectrum with the synthetic resin block as a reference is obtained. Obtained for each type of egg.

The results of measuring the spectral data of these eggs and calculating the absorbance spectra of the eggs in the wavelength range of 400 nm to 900 nm are shown in FIG. As can be seen from FIG. 3, the light absorption is the smallest near 700 nm, and it can be said that the wavelength is not easily affected by the inside of the egg. In the measurement of the spectral spectrum of an egg, not all the light emitted from the light source is incident on the egg, and a part of the light is reflected. In addition, the length of the optical path that light follows in the egg changes depending on the size of the egg. Due to such differences in reflectance and size, even if the composition of the yolk in the egg is the same, baseline fluctuations in which the calculated transmittance and absorbance spectral spectra fluctuate occur, resulting in differences in the shape of the spectra. It becomes difficult to understand. Therefore, in order to remove the influence of baseline fluctuation due to causes other than the internal tissue of the egg, FIG. 4 shows a normalized difference between the absorbance near 700 nm and the absorbance at each wavelength. Hereinafter, the absorbance spectrum normalized by this method is referred to as a "normalized absorbance spectrum".

In the normalized absorbance spectrum, it was investigated which wavelength of the absorbance value was highly correlated with the yolk ratio value, and therefore suitable for estimating the yolk ratio by absorbance. FIG. 5 shows the results of examining the correlation coefficient between the normalized absorbance and the measured value of the yolk ratio for each wavelength. The measured values of the yolk ratio (yolk weight / shelled egg weight) were measured by measuring the weight of the egg used in the experiment and then breaking the egg to examine the weight of the yolk and the egg white. As can be seen from FIG. 5, it can be seen that the correlation coefficient between the normalized absorbance and the measured value of the yolk ratio increases near the wavelength of 508 nm.

FIG. 6 shows the absorbance spectrum of the egg yolk alone. Comparing these FIGS. 5 and 6, it can be read that the height of the above-mentioned correlation coefficient near the wavelength of 508 nm depends on the yolk.

Further, FIG. 7 is a scatter plot in which the horizontal axis is the absorbance at 508 nm after normalization and the vertical axis is the yolk ratio. The white diamond-shaped plot in the figure represents an M-sized egg, the black-painted circle plot in the figure represents a two-yellow egg, and the white circle plot in the figure represents a large egg. From FIG. 7, two yolk eggs with a relatively high yolk ratio are gathered in the upper right, M size eggs with a relatively low yolk ratio are gathered in the lower left, and a large egg almost the same size as the yolk egg is an M size egg. The fact that it is located on the opposite side of the yolk egg indicates that this application is not due to egg size, but that there is a correlation between the yolk ratio and the normalized 508 nm absorbance.

From the above, the present inventor has discovered that the difference in the yolk ratio appears in the absorbance near 508 nm, and that the yolk ratio can be estimated by measuring the absorbance near 508 nm.

Next, the spectroscopic data of the seed egg is measured, and the absorbance spectrum of the seed egg in the wavelength range of 450 nm to 700 nm is calculated. FIG. 8 relates to the sapling of meat chickens, and shows the average value of the pre-embryonic absorbance of the hatched egg group of male chicks and the average pre-embryolysis of the hatched egg group of female chicks. It is the result showing the value. The "average value of the absorbance of the hatched eggs of the male chicks before laying eggs" is shown by a solid line, and the "average value of the absorbance of the hatched eggs of the female chicks before laying eggs" is shown by a broken line. ..

In order to investigate which wavelengths of the normalized absorbance spectrum have a statistically significant difference in the absorbance values before laying, the distribution of absorbance before laying and the group of hatched eggs of male chicks are examined. The presence or absence of a difference in the average values in the pre-embryonic absorbance distribution of the hatched egg group of female chicks was confirmed for each wavelength by performing a t-test well known in the field of statistics. The result of the t-test is obtained as a p-value, and the smaller the p-value value, the higher the probability that a gender difference exists. For example, if p <0.05, it can be said that there is a difference in the average value of the two groups with a risk factor of 5% or less.
The p-value for each wavelength is shown in FIG. As a result, the distribution of absorbance before egg placement was "significantly different between the male hatched egg group and the female hatched egg group" at a wavelength of around 508 nm (p <0.05). It turned out that it can be said.

From the above, the present inventor has discovered that the difference between male and female appears in the absorbance near 508 nm, and that the difference between male and female can be estimated by measuring the absorbance near 508 nm.

It should be noted that FIG. 10 corresponds to FIG. 8 regarding the seed eggs of the hens, and shows the average value of the absorbance before the hatched eggs of the male chicks and the hatched eggs of the female chicks. This is the result showing the average value of the absorbance before the egg. The "average value of the absorbance of the hatched eggs of the male chicks before laying eggs" is shown by a solid line, and the "average value of the absorbance of the hatched eggs of the female chicks before laying eggs" is shown by a broken line. .. Furthermore, as a result of t-test as in the case of meat chickens, the distribution of absorbance before laying eggs was "between the group of male hatched eggs and the group of female hatched eggs" at a wavelength of around 508 nm. It can be said that there is a significant difference (p <0.01). In FIG. 10, the magnitude of the absorbance is reversed between males and females as compared with FIG. 8, but the preferential gender of the hens used in the experiment is female as described in the above-mentioned consideration of the conversion rate, and the female side. This is a reasonable result because it is thought that more nutrients are supplied through the egg yolk. It is the same that the difference between male and female appears in the absorbance near 508 nm, and that the difference between male and female can be estimated by measuring the absorbance near 508 nm.

Then, from these results, the present inventor has derived that it is possible to predict the sex of the chick that hatches from the seed egg to be inspected based on the estimated value of the yolk ratio.

The meat chickens used in this verification experiment were male-dominated, and the hens used in this verification experiment were female-dominated, but the male-dominant / female-dominant may change if the chicken breed changes.

<The present embodiment>
Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.
The sex-oriented selection device 10 for the seed egg according to the present embodiment is based on the quantitative estimation value of the “yolk” of the seed egg before being placed in the incubator 30 and the experimental result showing the sex relationship of the chicks hatching from the seed egg. The sex of the chicks that hatch from the seed egg is predicted from the estimated value of "yolk", and a group of eggs having a high incidence of chicks of the undesired sex is extracted.

Specifically, the seed egg sex-oriented selection device 10 of the present embodiment is installed in a part of the egg sorting and packaging device (grader) 40 as shown in FIG. 11, for example, and emits multi-wavelength light. The measured value of the spectral spectrum is calculated from the irradiation means 1 that irradiates the egg to be inspected, the light receiving means 2 that receives the transmitted light that is irradiated from the irradiation means 1 and transmitted through the inside of the egg, and the light received by the light receiving means 2. It is mainly composed of a determination calculation unit 4 including a calculation means 3 for a measured spectral spectrum. The determination calculation unit 4 is a part of a control device (not shown) which is a so-called microcomputer equipped with a CPU, ROM, RAM, and other appropriate peripheral elements, and evaluates quality attributes and other main inspection devices (seed eggs). A program for realizing the operation of each part of the gender-oriented selection device 10 and the like is incorporated. In the present embodiment, the gender-oriented selection device 10 for seed eggs is mainly composed of a set of irradiation means 1, light receiving means 2, and determination calculation unit 4, and is a gender-oriented selection device for seed eggs to be inspected. Operates as 10.

The gender-oriented selection device 10 of the seed egg of the present embodiment is an inspection target based on the estimation means 5 for non-destructively estimating the yolk ratio of the seed egg to be inspected before being placed in the incubator 30 and the estimated value of the yolk ratio. It is provided with a selection means 6 that predicts the sex of the chick that hatches from the yolk of the above-mentioned egg yolk and selects the egg yolk of one sex.

The estimation means 5 of the present embodiment estimates the yolk ratio based on the actually measured spectral spectrum calculated by the calculation means 3. The selection means 6 of the present embodiment uses an estimated value of the yolk ratio estimated from the spectral spectrum.

Hereinafter, an egg selection method using the yolk size of the seed egg before egg placement described above will be described. Specifically, an example of applying the egg sorting method of the present invention to a facility for classifying pre-incubation seed eggs in a commercial-based hatchery based on the sex prediction of chicks will be described.

Seed eggs waiting to enter the incubator
・ M-judgment group containing eggs with a high hatching rate of male chicks and F-judgment group containing eggs with a high hatching rate of female chicks. Cases: ・ M-judgment group that includes eggs with a particularly high hatching rate for male chicks ・ F-judgment group that includes eggs with a particularly high hatching rate for female chicks ・ G-judgment group that includes other eggs 3 Two cases will be described in the case of the three-part method in which the eggs are divided and placed in a setter tray for an incubator.

In a commercial-based incubation plant, tens of thousands of eggs are inserted at one time, so the above classification work and filling work need to be performed at a processing speed of about 10,000 eggs per hour. Graders that transport eggs on a conveyor, classify them according to the above-mentioned processing speed based on criteria other than gender such as egg weight, and fill the setter trays have already been put into practical use.

This embodiment is an example in which the above-mentioned grader 40 is provided with a “seed egg inspection device related to the sex of chicks (sex-oriented selection device 10 for the seed egg of the present invention)”, and is an M determination group, a G determination group, and F. Eggs are sorted and filled in setter trays prepared at the three gates of the judgment group. However, since the transfer of eggs in the Grader 40 and the filling of eggs in the setter tray of eggs at the designated gate are known by existing techniques, details are not given, and the "inspection device for eggs related to the sex of chicks" is used for eggs. A portion for sending a destination instruction to any of the three gates of the M determination group, the G determination group, and the F determination group based on the gender prediction to the grader controller 11 will be described.

As shown in FIG. 11, the egg is transported horizontally on the carrier and reaches the sensing unit 9 of the inspection device. In the sensing unit 9, the irradiation means 1 irradiates the egg with the light of a halogen lamp light source guided by an optical fiber. The light transmitted through the egg is condensed by the light receiving means 2, the collected light is again guided to the spectroscopic unit via the optical fiber, and the value of the multi-wavelength spectroscopic spectrum is input to the determination calculation unit 4. ..

Next, an example of the procedure executed by the determination calculation unit 4 will be described. Needless to say, the wavelength used for the determination is not limited to the wavelengths described below.

When the egg reaches the sensing unit 9 of the inspection device, the determination calculation unit 4 performs irradiation by the irradiation means 1 and light reception by the light receiving means 2, and acquires a spectral spectrum. After that, the determination calculation unit 4 calculates the difference absorbance using the average value of the absorbance at the determination wavelength (for example, around 508 nm) and the average value of the absorbance at the reference wavelength (for example, around 700 nm). After that, the difference absorbance and the threshold value are compared, and the cases are classified according to the judgment of the preferential gender.

When the preferential gender is male, in the dichotomy, if the differential absorbance is larger than the threshold value α, M is determined. On the other hand, if the differential absorbance is equal to or less than the threshold value α, F is determined.

On the contrary, when the preferential gender is female, in the dichotomy, if the differential absorbance is larger than the threshold value α, F is determined. On the other hand, if the differential absorbance is equal to or less than the threshold value α, M is determined.

When the preferential gender is male, in the trisection method, if the differential absorbance is larger than the threshold value β, M is determined. When the differential absorbance is equal to or less than the threshold value β, and when the differential absorbance is larger than the threshold value γ, G is determined. On the other hand, if the differential absorbance is equal to or less than the threshold value γ, F is determined.

On the contrary, when the preferential gender is female, in the trisection method, if the differential absorbance is larger than the threshold value β, F is determined. When the differential absorbance is equal to or less than the threshold value β, and when the differential absorbance is larger than the threshold value γ, G is determined. On the other hand, if the differential absorbance is equal to or less than the threshold value γ, M is determined.

<Effect of this embodiment>
As described above, the gender-oriented selection device 10 for the seed egg according to the present embodiment has the estimation means 5 for non-destructively estimating the yolk ratio of the seed egg to be inspected before being placed in the incubator 30, and the estimation of the yolk ratio. Based on the value, the sex of the chick that hatches from the yolk to be inspected is predicted, and the selection means 6 is provided to select the yolk of one sex. Therefore, in a commercial-based hatchery, a fast and non-invasive method should be used to select a collection of eggs that are stored before being placed in the incubator 30 and that have a high rate of hatching of chicks of a particular gender. Can be done. In addition, along with this, chicks of undesired sex will select a collection of eggs with a high proportion of eggs to hatch and sell them as edible eggs, or those who desire a limited capacity of the hatchery. Gender chicks can be preferentially assigned to hatching eggs, and in the case of meat chickens, limited chick farm capacity can be preferentially assigned to chicks of the desired gender. Great economic benefits. Further, according to the sex-oriented selection device 10 of the seed egg of the present embodiment, the sex can be predicted before the start of incubation in the incubator 30, so that the chicks of the undesired sex are slaughtered in terms of bioethics. It is also possible to alleviate the problem of.

[Experimental example with meat chicken]
Next, the result of applying the judgment algorithm to the experimental result of meat chicken is shown. Fifty-two meat chicken eggs were prepared and the egg weight and absorbance spectra of all eggs were measured before being placed in the incubator. Using this absorbance spectrum, the "difference absorbance" with high correlation with the yolk ratio found by the present inventor was calculated.

Difference Absorbance = Average Absorbance Near 508 nm-Average Absorbance Near 700 nm

It can be said that this differential absorbance is the average value of the normalized absorbance spectrum near 508 nm. Using this difference absorbance, classification was performed based on gender prediction. When the chicken species is specified as in this experimental example, the preferential sex can be known, so that the sex of the chick can be predicted. In the case of the meat chicken used in this experiment, the male is dominant, and the hatching eggs of the male chicks are given more materials such as yolks and eggshells to make the whole body and skeleton of the chicks.

表中の抽出数は、各行き先判定に分類された卵の個数である。
抽出率は、
抽出率 ＝ 抽出数／雛の全数
で定義される。
オス含有率は、各行き先判定に分類された卵のうちで実際にオスであるものの割合である。メス含有率は、各行き先判定に分類された卵のうちで実際にメスであるものの割合である。 After that, the eggs were laid. Forty-six chicks hatched. The sex of the hatched chicks was differentiated, and it was found that 21 were male and 25 were female. The results of the dichotomy and the trisection are shown in FIG. 12 and Tables 2 and 3.

The number of extracted eggs in the table is the number of eggs classified in each destination determination.
The extraction rate is
Extraction rate = Defined by the number of extracts / the total number of chicks.
The male content is the percentage of eggs that are actually male among the eggs classified in each destination determination. The female content is the percentage of eggs that are actually female among the eggs classified in each destination determination.

From this experimental example, when females are preferred, 33% (extraction rate of M judgment) of pre-embroiled meat chicken seed eggs before laying eggs is selected by the method of the present invention, and among the selected egg groups. 66% (male content rate of M judgment) can be made male. Therefore, 33% of the total number of eggs before incubation (extraction rate of M judgment) is selected as "a group of male content of 66% (male content of M judgment)" and sold as edible eggs, and the rest. If 67% of the above (G-judgment extraction rate + F-judgment extraction rate) is put into the incubator, about 50% of the males in the original seed egg (M-judgment and feather-discriminating male 10 / feather-discriminating male total 21) It can be sold as an edible egg, and an incubator can be assigned to about 80% of females ((G judgment and feather discrimination female 10 + F judgment and feather discrimination female 10) / feather discrimination female total 25).

On the other hand, when males are preferred, 30% (F-judgment extraction rate) of pre-laying meat chicken seed eggs are selected by the method of the present invention, and 71% of the selected egg groups (71%). The female content rate of F judgment) can be set to female. Therefore, 30% of the total number of seed eggs before incubation (F-judgment extraction rate) is selected as a "collection of female content of 71% (F-judgment female content)" and sold as edible eggs, and the rest. If 70% of the eggs (G-judgment extraction rate + M-judgment extraction rate) are put into the incubator, about 40% of the females in the original seed egg (F-judgment and feather discrimination female 10 / feather discrimination female total 25) It can be sold as an edible egg, and an incubator can be assigned to about 80% of males ((G-judgment and feather-discriminating male 7 + M-judgment and feather-discriminating male 10) / feather-discriminating male total 21).

[Experimental example with egg-collecting chickens]
Next, the result of applying the judgment algorithm to the experimental result of the hens is shown. 100 eggs of hens were prepared and the egg weights and absorbance spectra of all the eggs were measured before being placed in the incubator. Using this absorbance spectrum, the "difference absorbance" with high correlation with the yolk ratio found by the present inventor was calculated.

Difference Absorbance = Average Absorbance Near 508 nm-Average Absorbance Near 700 nm

It can be said that this differential absorbance is the average value of the normalized absorbance spectrum near 508 nm. Using this difference absorbance, classification was performed based on gender prediction. When the chicken species is specified as in this experimental example, the preferential sex can be known, so that the sex of the chick can be predicted. In the case of the egg-collecting chickens used in this experiment, the females are predominant, and the hatched eggs of the female chicks are given more materials such as yolks and eggshells to make the whole body and skeleton of the chicks.

表中の抽出数は、各行き先判定に分類された卵の個数である。
抽出率は、
抽出率 ＝ 抽出数／雛の全数
で定義される。
オス含有率は、各行き先判定に分類された卵のうちで実際にオスであるものの割合である。メス含有率は、各行き先判定に分類された卵のうちで実際にメスであるものの割合である。 After that, the eggs were laid. 90 chicks hatched. The sex of the hatched chicks was differentiated, and it was found that 47 were male and 43 were female. The results of the dichotomous method and the trisection method are shown in FIGS. 13 and 4 and 5.

The number of extracted eggs in the table is the number of eggs classified in each destination determination.
The extraction rate is
Extraction rate = Defined by the number of extracts / the total number of chicks.
The male content is the percentage of eggs that are actually male among the eggs classified in each destination determination. The female content is the percentage of eggs that are actually female among the eggs classified in each destination determination.

From this experimental example, 31% (extraction rate of M-judgment) of hens before laying eggs was selected by the method of the present invention, and 71% (male content of M-judgment) in the selected egg group. ) Can be male. Therefore, 31% of the total number of eggs before incubation (extraction rate of M judgment) is selected as "a group of male content of 71% (male content of M judgment)" and sold as edible eggs, and the rest. If 69% of the eggs (G-judgment extraction rate + F-judgment extraction rate) are put into the incubator, about 43% of the males in the original seed egg (M-judgment and feather-discriminating male 20 / feather-discriminating male total 47) It can be sold as an edible egg, and an incubator can be assigned to about 80% of females ((G judgment and feather discrimination female 18 + F judgment and feather discrimination female 17) / feather discrimination female total 43).

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment.

In the above example, we focused on two wavelengths, 508 nm and 700 nm, but when the wavelength is specified to several wavelengths in this way, monochromatic light sources such as lasers and LEDs that output light of each wavelength are sequentially used. , Lights up, irradiates the egg, receives the light transmitted through the egg with a photodiode, and uses the output of the photodiode as the amount of light received at each wavelength, and uses this to obtain an estimated value of the egg yolk ratio. May be good. That is, the selection means includes an irradiation means for irradiating light having a specific wavelength, a light receiving means for receiving the transmitted light transmitted through the inside of the egg, and a calculation means for calculating the transmittance or absorbance from the received light. If it is a sex-oriented selection device for seed eggs that uses an estimated value of the egg yolk ratio estimated from the transmittance or the absorbance, the sex can be predicted relatively easily.

The essence of gender discrimination in the present invention is "a method of gender classification based on the yolk ratio". Focusing on this, the sex-oriented selection device for the seed egg of the present invention photographs the irradiation means for irradiating the seed egg to be inspected before being placed in the incubator with light and the egg through which light is transmitted. Predict the sex of the chicks that hatch from the seed egg to be inspected based on the imaging means and the shading of the composite image using the component image of only the specific wavelength range or the component images of a plurality of different specific wavelength ranges obtained by this imaging means. However, it may be provided with a selection means for selecting eggs of one gender.
In addition, the selection means of such a sex-oriented selection device for seed eggs is based on predetermined sex-related discrimination conditions according to those described in the embodiment using the above-mentioned spectral spectrum, and the seed eggs of one sex are selected. Any kind of selection may be used as long as it is biased.

That is, an imaging means such as a camera can be used for the light receiving unit. At this time, when a monochromatic light source that irradiates blue-green light, which is a complementary color of egg yolk, is used as a light source, the egg yolk portion appears dark when the transmitted image of the egg is viewed. Therefore, the ratio of the yolk portion to the whole egg can be estimated based on the shade of the transparent image of the egg, and the sex can be predicted. As a specific example, in the case of a white egg, if you irradiate the egg with light with a wavelength that complements the yolk and take a transmitted image with a camera, the yolk part will appear black. The yolk ratio can be obtained from the ratio of the bright part and the dark part of the image in the outline of the egg and used for classification by gender prediction.

Further, a hyperspectral camera can be used for the light receiving unit. At this time, when the light of a multi-wavelength light source such as a halogen lamp is irradiated as a light source, a transmitted image of the egg is acquired by a hyperspectral camera, and the hyperspectral image data is decomposed into component images for each wavelength band, the egg yellow color is obtained. In the component image of the complementary color band, the egg yolk part appears dark. Therefore, the ratio of the yolk portion to the entire egg can be estimated based on the shade of the component image in the band of a specific wavelength, and the sex can be predicted. Furthermore, by taking an image of the difference between the component image of the wavelength band such as red that easily transmits the egg and the component image of the complementary color band of the egg yolk, a clearer image of the contrast between the yolk part and the other part can be obtained. be able to.
In this way, the ratio of the yolk portion to the entire egg can be estimated more accurately, and the accuracy of sex prediction can be improved.

In the present embodiment, the relationship between the yolk ratio and the sex difference is shown by the existence of the correlation between the difference absorbance of two wavelengths and the egg yolk ratio and the existence of the sex difference at the same difference absorbance, and the sex-oriented selection is performed from the estimation of the yolk ratio. Said. On the other hand, when the principal component analysis of the normalized absorbance spectrum is performed, the first principal component score (PC1) has a significant difference in sex, and the shape of the first principal component vector (spectrum of the first principal component) is the spectrum of egg yolk alone. It should be added that the relationship between the sex difference and the egg yolk ratio can be shown by this method because it resembles the shape of. Similar results can be obtained by other methods using multivariate analysis.

In the description of the above-described embodiment, the absorbance spectrum has been used as a representation of the spectroscopic spectrum. Since the absorbance spectrum and the transmittance spectrum can be converted to each other, the formulas of the embodiment can be rewritten into expressions using the transmittance spectrum.
Further, as multi-wavelength light, an absorbance spectrum measured by irradiating an egg with an electromagnetic wave including a wavelength range of 450 nm to 700 nm has been used. Absorbance spectra measured in other wavelength ranges may be used. Further, in the above embodiment, the case where the wavelength range is measured every 1 nm has been described, but it is not always continuous, and may be roughly set, for example, every 5 nm.

In the embodiment, the halogen lamp used in the current abnormal egg inspection device is used as the light source, but any light source containing multi-wavelength light such as a xenon lamp or a white LED light source may be used. Moreover, infrared rays may be used. Further, the direction of irradiating the egg with light is not limited to the side of the egg, and may be from above or below the egg. Further, the irradiated egg may be inspected while being transported by a carrier or the like, or may be inspected in a stationary state placed on a tray or the like.

Further, in the present embodiment, the case where the light receiving means is a spectroscopic means has been described, but the light receiving means may not be provided with the spectroscopic means. In that case, an irradiation means such as a monochromatic LED or a laser having a different wavelength may be used. Lights may be emitted in chronological order so that the light receiving means can obtain multi-wavelength spectroscopic data.

The embodiments disclosed this time are examples and are not limited thereto. The present invention is shown by the scope of claims, not the scope described above, and is intended to include all modifications in the sense and scope equivalent to the scope of claims.

In a commercial-based hatchery, a collection of eggs that are stored before being placed in an incubator can be selected in a fast and non-invasive manner from a collection of eggs that have a high rate of hatching of chicks of a particular gender. ..
for that reason,
・ A collection of seed eggs with a high proportion of eggs hatched by chicks of the undesired gender can be selected and sold as edible eggs. It can provide economic benefits, such as preferential allocation to eggs that hatch, and alleviate the bioethical problem of killing chicks of the undesired gender.

10 ... Gender-oriented selection device for seed eggs 5 ... Estimating means 6 ... Selection means 30 ... Incubator

Claims (1)

An estimation method that non-destructively estimates the yolk ratio of the seed egg to be inspected before it is placed in the incubator.
Based on this estimated yolk ratio, the sex of the chicks that hatch from the seed eggs to be inspected is predicted, and the sex orientation of the seed eggs is characterized by providing a selection means for biasing the selection to the seed eggs of one gender. Selection device.

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