Methods for Rapidly and Accurately Locating Avian Egg Blastoderms

Methods of non-invasively locating blastoderms within avian eggs are provided. An opening is formed in the shell of an egg at a location under which a blastoderm is positioned based on the orientation of the egg; an image of an exposed inner shell membrane and underlying material is acquired; the acquired image is processed to enhance visibility of a blastoderm in the image; and the blastoderm is located in the image. A material may be applied to the egg to enhance transparency of the inner shell membrane prior to acquiring the image. Locating the blastoderm in the image may include determining location coordinates of the blastoderm in the image. These location coordinates may be transmitted to egg processing equipment for subsequent processing of the egg.