Method of sorting birds in ovo
AssigneeEmbrex, Inc.
InventorPatricia V. Phelps
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A method of determining the gender of a bird in ovo comprises detecting the presence or absence of an elevated level of a sex-related hormone in the extra-embryonic fluid of the bird egg, and then determining the gender of the bird within the egg from the presence of an elevated level of a sex-related hormone therein. Preferably, the sex-related hormone is an estrogen. Further preferred are methods in which the extra-embryonic fluid is allantoic fluid. The method is preferably carried out on chicken eggs prior to or during transfer of the eggs from incubator to hatcher.
Claims11
A method of determining the gender of a bird in ovo, comprising the steps of:
- providing a bird egg containing a viable embryo and allantoic fluid;
- contacting the allantoic fluid with a binding reagent that is capable of forming a complex with estrogen;
- detecting the presence or absence of the complex formed between the binding reagent and estrogen within the allantoic fluid;
- determining the presence or absence of an elevated level of estrogen in the allantoic fluid in ovo by comparison with a predetermined standard;
- and
- predicting that the gender of the bird embryo in ovo is a female from the presence of an elevated estrogen level in said allantoic fluid in ovo.
A method of determining the gender of a bird in ovo, comprising the steps of:
- providing a bird egg containing a viable embryo and allantoic fluid;
- contacting the allantoic fluid with a binding reagent that is capable of forming a complex with estrogen;
- detecting the presence or absence of the complex formed between the binding reagent and estrogen within the allantoic fluid;
- determining the presence or absence of an elevated level of estrogen of 20 picograms per milliliter or greater in the allantoic fluid in ovo;
- and
- predicting that the gender of the bird embryo in ovo is a female from the presence of an elevated estrogen level of 20 picograms per milliliter or greater in said allantoic fluid in ovo.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.