1. This study was conducted to develop an efficient technique for separating double-yolked (DY) from single-yolked (SY) light brown broiler eggs with comparable shape and size, that were hard to distinguish merely by their external characteristics, using Vis-NIR transmission spectroscopy combined with multivariate analysis.2. Spectroscopic transmission (200-900 nm) was measured after collecting the eggs, and the yolk number was verified by breaking the eggs after boiling. The absorbance of important spectral wavelengths sensitive to yolk amount were identified using feature selection techniques (Principal Component Analysis and Genetic Algorithm).3. Discriminant analysis (DA) and support vector machine (SVM) classifiers were used to develop classification models for DY and SY eggs using the selected important spectral wavelengths.4. When compared to alternative nonlinear techniques, the developed model applying linear discriminant analysis produced greater accuracies in the first (96%) and second (100%) experiments, implying lower inter-egg variability from spectral data and a linear relationship between classes. However, the position and orientation of yolks in DY eggs may limit the classification accuracy of the eggs.
1. Monitoring early embryonic growth rate (EGR) has significant economic and animal welfare benefits. This study focuses on monitoring sex-specific early EGR using light transmission, and correlating this with hatching time and chick weight. For broiler eggs in particular, spectral masking of the light brown eggshells needed to be addressed. This was done using longitudinal visible transmission spectroscopy combined with eggshell colour image analysis.2. Prior to incubation, colour images of eggs were captured followed by daily measurements of transmission spectra of eggs from days one to nine of incubation. The sex of the eggs was subsequently verified 2 d after hatching.3. To accurately and sensitively determine sex differences in EGR using light transmission, while minimising interference from eggshell colour and thickness, the ratio of longitudinal transmissions was determined to be most effective at 575 and 610 nm.3. Embryonic growth was detectable from d 3 (72 h) of incubation, 24 h earlier than previously reported lateral transmission measurements. However, at this time, low blood levels meant that no significant sex-differences (P > 0.05) for the mean T575/T610 ratio were detectable. This may have been due, in part, to spectral masking from the light brown eggshells. At d 7, female embryos had a significantly lower (P < 0.05) mean T575/T610 ratio than males.4. Although the T575/T610 ratio had low correlations with hatching time and hatch-weight of chicks, this could be a good starting point for further non-destructive investigations for such predictions.5. In conclusion, the methodology had the sensitivity to differentiate sex-specific early EGR in broiler eggs, even with pigmented eggshells, and has the potential to advance precision hatchery management and poultry research.
Some unresolved questions in poultry science were addressed: what determines the yield of chick embryos or hatchlings; what kind of influence does egg yolk content have on embryonic development; and how to detect eggs producing super grade chicks? Since the yolk acts as a vital energy and nutrient reservoir for embryos, we hypothesized that a higher yolk content of similar sizes eggs would play an important role in embryo or chick viability during incubation, as well as at hatch. As experimental sample, we used ROSS 308 (broiler line) and a nondestructive spectroscopic absorbance method. The influence of high yolk content to embryonic heartbeat and chick yield (i.e., chick weight/egg weight) were then investigated. Embryonic heartbeat signal was measured indirectly using a prototype near-infrared sensor during incubation period. A positive influence was found in both cases. Similar size eggs with higher yolk content were found to significantly (P-value < 0.05) promote higher chick yield at hatch. This methodology may have the potential to be used to precision poultry production system, ornithology, developmental, or evolutionary biology in the near future.
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