Institute of Physiological Chemistry, Veterinary Faculty, University of Leipzig, Germany.
Theriogenology. 2013 Aug;80(3):199-205. doi: 10.1016/j.theriogenology.2013.04.014. Epub 2013 May 29.
Male chicks are an unwanted by-product when producing laying hens. The common practice to kill them directly after they have hatched gives rise to ethical concerns worldwide. The aim of this study was to develop an endocrine method to determine the sex of domestic chicken before hatch. On Days 7 to 10 of incubation, the allantoic fluid from brown layers' eggs (n = 750) was analyzed via enzyme immunoassay for their content of estradiol, estrone sulfate, and testosterone in order to detect gender differences. We successfully established a reliable method for in ovo sex identification on Day 9 of incubation by estrone sulfate measurement in the allantoic fluid. Female embryos displayed significantly higher hormone levels in the allantoic fluid than males (female: median = 0.312 ng/mL; male: median = 0.110 ng/mL; P ≤ 0.001). Our method allows the sexing of domestic chicken at a very early stage of embryonic development, even before the onset of pain perception. The possibility to eliminate eggs containing male embryos on Day 9 of incubation represents a vast improvement compared with culling day-old chicks.
在生产蛋鸡时，雄性小鸡是一种不受欢迎的副产品。在孵化后直接杀死它们的常见做法引起了全球范围内的伦理关注。本研究旨在开发一种内分泌方法，以便在孵化前确定家鸡的性别。在孵化的第 7 至 10 天，通过酶联免疫吸附试验分析褐壳蛋鸡（n = 750）的羊水，以检测雌二醇、雌酮硫酸酯和睾酮的含量，从而检测性别差异。我们成功地通过在孵化第 9 天测量羊水的雌酮硫酸酯，建立了一种可靠的在鸡胚期进行性别鉴定的方法。雌性胚胎的羊水激素水平明显高于雄性（雌性：中位数 = 0.312ng/ml；雄性：中位数 = 0.110ng/ml；P≤0.001）。我们的方法允许在家禽胚胎发育的非常早期阶段进行性别鉴定，甚至在疼痛感知之前。与淘汰 1 日龄小鸡相比，在孵化第 9 天淘汰含有雄性胚胎的鸡蛋的可能性有了很大的提高。
