Methods and apparatus for forming an opening in a shell of an avian egg such that the potential for cracking is greatly reduced are provided and comprise moving a punch through an egg shell at speeds equal to or greater than thirty (30) inches per second. Punches may be driven via various devices including gravity-assisted devices, spring-assisted devices, solenoid-assisted devices, and fluid-assisted (e.g., compressed air, compressed nitrogen, liquid, etc.) devices. The shell of an egg may be pierced without causing cracking by hurling one or more small projectiles at the egg shell at speeds in excess of 30 inches per second. A punch may be mounted on a piezoelectric actuator configured to vibrate at frequencies in a range of between about 1,000 Hz and about 100,000 Hz. These frequencies effectively cause a punch to move at speeds in excess of 30 inches per second.

An in ovo jet injection apparatus and related methods for treating live eggs. The jet injection apparatus includes one or more jet injection delivery devices configured to deliver one or more treatment substances to predetermined areas of eggs using a high pressure stream of the treatment substance(s). Multiple treatment substances can be delivered so that they are spatially and/or temporally separate. The devices and methods of the invention enable the effective use of a plurality of treatment substances, including those that are effective when used alone but can be noxious if mixed. The methods and apparatus for the jet injection of substances into embryonic chicks reduce the risk of mechanical injury to the developing birds that would be caused by injection needles. The methods and apparatus of the invention can also reduce the introduction of an infection into the chicks.

Methods and apparatus for processing eggs based upon a characteristic such as gender are provided. Material is extracted from each of a plurality of live eggs, the extracted material is assayed to identify eggs having the characteristic, and then eggs identified as having the characteristic are processed accordingly.

An egg is accelerated such that the inner and outer shell membranes separate and allow the air cell to move within the egg when the egg is repositioned. By separating the outer and inner shell membranes of an egg, the air cell will reposition itself at the upper portion of the egg shell. An egg may be accelerated in various ways according to embodiments of the present invention including, but not limited to, agitation, "flicking" by hand, spinning, rotating, centrifuging, etc.

The present subject matter relates to methods and apparatus for metering and dispensing selected materials. Selected materials may correspond to liquids, suspensions, emulsions and solids, and in selected embodiments may correspond to treatment compositions directed to the treatment of poultry eggs. Certain embodiments provide selective dispensing of selected metered material upon detection of the presence of an object to be treated.