IPPE: TARGAN expands automated sexing technology across Latin America
WingScan delivers speed, accuracy and improved animal welfare for broiler hatcheries
25 March 2026
4 minute read
By: Carlos Bautista, key account manager for Latin America at TARGAN, recently spoke to The Poultry Site’s Sarah Mikesell at the 2026 International Production and Processing Expo (IPPE) in Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
Despite the cold, icy weather, have you guys had a good show?
Yes, the show's been pretty busy. Everyone arrived a bit later, but overall, we have seen exceptionally good turnout. The first two days have been pretty busy with customers from all over the globe: the US, Canada, Europe, Asia, and specifically Latin America.
IPPE is a big show for Latin America. Can you give us an update on TARGAN's presence in Latin America?
At TARGAN, we have the WingScan system, which is an automated feather sexing system. Specifically, at this moment for broilers, but we are looking into layers. Over the last three years, we've been focused on the US, Canada and Europe.
During the last six months, we've been actively working in the Latin American region with producers and integrators from across Mexico all the way down to Brazil. I'm happy to say we've been able to secure customers across the region, from Mexico to Colombia and Peru, and hopefully the rest of Latin America. Eventually, we will be moving into Central America, It’s an extremely big market. For us, the value we're bringing there is really addressing the scarcity of labor, accessibility to labor, the rising cost of labor, and the uncertainties around legislation, reduction in hours and increasing costs.
We know labor is certainly an issue everywhere, so how is TARGAN addressing labor and other pain points in the region?
Labor is an issue, not just in Latin America, it's an issue in North America, Asia and Europe. In some regions, labor is a bit inexpensive. In Latin America, automated sexing is a little bit more expensive than manual process itself. A lot of hatcheries have crews of 10 to 30 people working, and a lot of these groups are getting older.
The younger generation doesn't want to be in the hatchery and doesn't want to stand 10 hours a day. Also, it's causing injuries to the people sexing as a result of standing 10 hours straight. Sexing manually can cause injuries to the wrists and back pain.
We've seen inefficiencies with the manual process of sexing. Typically, your sexer has a really good accuracy. I'm not going to deny it with around 95% accuracy at the beginning of the day. But then you have lunch, and just like me at the office, after having lunch, your work speed and accuracy kind of slow down for the rest of the day, and you can't do that in a hatchery. You have to have consistent and fast accuracy, and that's where really our automated solutions are really resolving that issue. Overall, TARGAN is seeing great success in addressing a lot of these pain points.
Another pain point, for instance in Mexico, is that they're reducing hours from 48 to 42 hours. So again, that's impacting production time. It's essentially eliminating one day of production that they had previously. Automated sexing is the solution to that.
Another drastic example would be Colombia, where they are going from a 48-hour work week to the low 40’s, also removing a day of production. Recently, the Colombian government increased costs – about 23.7% in income. Again, that's increasing salaries, whether that stays, is yet to be seen. But at TARGAN, we're removing all of the unknowns and the inconsistencies and not just the manual process, but everything revolving sexing in general.
What are some of those other pain points? You mentioned a couple other things as well.
Other pain points that we see in the industry include scarcity of labor and the cost of labor. But I believe the most important pain point for producers is really on the animal welfare side.
Right now, using the manual process, the chicks are being tossed left or right, male and female. It's really not the most animal welfare-friendly way to sex the birds. Our system completely eliminates the need to manipulate the bird, and the reduction in handling results in better animal welfare.
What we've seen as a downstream effect is by eliminating the manipulation of the bird, we're seeing a reduction in mortality at the farm. You're eliminating the drops; you're eliminating the handling. The bird can now access feed and water and get to the farm faster, which increases performance over time. So again, the biggest pain point is an additional value-add. It’s making sure that the animals are being treated well, and with less handling comes better production efficiency with our systems.
With WingScan, the animal welfare benefits like reducing stress are important too?
WingScan offers a reduction of manipulation compared to vent sexing where you're exposing the birds to an invasive process. In ovo sexing, it's also an invasive process. It's also specifically for the layers and it's a bit slower and more expensive. For broiler sexing, WingScan or automated sexing, in this case, feather-sexing is the right solution. It provides the speed and accuracy that’s needed, and it's less invasive than the other methods available in the market.
Sarah Mikesell
Sarah Mikesell grew up on a five-generation family farming operation in Ohio, USA, where her family still farms. She feels extraordinarily lucky to get to do what she loves - write about livestock and crop agriculture. You can find her on LinkedIn.
