In ovo gender determination of incubated eggs can be a large-scale substitute to the culling of male chicks in layer hen production. However, the technology raises new ethical concerns which relate to the sensitivity of the embryo, as well as how the screened out eggs will be used afterwards and the accuracy of gender determination. In order to comprehensively investigate consumer attitudes towards this new technology, a questionnaire including a choice experiment was distributed to a representative sample of 482 German consumers between December 2018 and March 2019. The data was analyzed by an explorative factor analysis and a latent class analysis. Results indicate that the sample can be divided into four segments, which differ in preferences for production attributes, attitudes and price sensitivity. Attitudinal differences are found regarding respondents’ approval of the technical advances in agricultural production, confidence in legal regulations and the endorsement of enhanced livestock production conditions. Both a meaningful usage of by-products and a high rate of accuracy are crucial factors for the acceptance of in ovo gender determination for the majority of respondents. However, response behavior of one segment, representing 11% of the sample, indicates the disapproval of both chick culling and in ovo screening.

中文翻译：

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社会对蛋内性别决定作为替代小鸡扑杀的态度

孵化蛋的卵内性别测定可以大规模替代蛋鸡生产中雄性小鸡的扑杀。然而，该技术引发了新的伦理问题，涉及胚胎的敏感性，以及筛选出的卵子之后将如何使用以及性别确定的准确性。为了全面调查消费者对这项新技术的态度，我们在 2018 年 12 月至 2019 年 3 月期间向 482 名德国消费者的代表性样本分发了一份包含选择实验的问卷，并通过探索性因素分析和潜在类别分析对数据进行了分析。结果表明，样本可以分为四个部分，这些部分在生产属性、态度和价格敏感性方面的偏好不同。在受访者对农业生产技术进步的认可、对法律法规的信心以及对提高畜牧生产条件的认可方面存在态度差异。副产品的有意义使用和高准确率是大多数受访者接受卵内性别决定的关键因素。然而，代表样本 11% 的一个片段的响应行为表明不赞成淘汰小鸡和卵内筛查。副产品的有意义使用和高准确率是大多数受访者接受卵内性别决定的关键因素。然而，代表样本 11% 的一个片段的响应行为表明不赞成淘汰小鸡和卵内筛查。副产品的有意义使用和高准确率是大多数受访者接受卵内性别决定的关键因素。然而，代表样本 11% 的一个片段的响应行为表明不赞成淘汰小鸡和卵内筛查。