April 28-30, 2025

All Speakers

Dog and cat food research experts who will present at Petfood Forum & Petfood Essentials

Joost ter Heerdt
Commercial Director
HatchTech Group
With over 20 years of industry experience, Joost ter Heerdt has led HatchTech to become a leading player in poultry incubation technology, now serving clients in more than 40 countries. Under his leadership, the company continues to innovate and maximize the genetic potential of poultry. He has played a pivotal role in developing some of the world’s largest, most advanced hatcheries, serving well-known industry brands. He holds a bachelor’s degree in agriculture from Harper Adams University and a master’s degree in economics from Radbound University.
Date/TimeTitle
Tue Nov 04
8:15 AM - 8:45 AM
Innovation presentations

Using gradual egg warming to lower embryo mortality and improve chick quality

Joost ter Heerdt, commercial director, HatchTech Group

At top performing hatcheries, 14.2% of the total eggs set fail to hatch, representing an average infertility rate of 5.4% and an average embryo mortality rate of 8.8%. The highest percentage of embryo mortality occurs during the first four days of incubation, compared to the remainder of the incubation period. Gradual egg warming over a six-day period has been shown to reduce embryo mortality and improve chick quality. Doing this extends the incubation period by three days. Learn how these changes to incubation can be implemented.

Enhancing hatchery efficiency with AI-powered MRI egg assessment

Jennifer Volz, head of global business development, Orbem USA Inc.

Orbem has developed an AI-powered MRI system that scans up to 24,000 eggs per hour with 99% accuracy in commercial hatcheries. The technology non-invasively identifies unfertilized eggs before incubation, improving hatchability and optimizing incubator capacity. It also enables sex determination in table egg layer strains at 11 to 12 days of incubation. Beyond that, the system analyzes phenotypic traits, detects blood and meat spots, and measures molecular content — all without cracking a single egg. These insights enable earlier, data-driven breeding decisions and support the elimination of day-old male chick culling in the layer industry.