The Eggatron was a digital counter that recorded when an egg was laid in an effort to determine the most productive hens.
As each egg was laid, it would roll from the hen's cage and trigger a mercury switch, connected to a panel.
[2] The tape data assisted in identifying the birds with high egg production levels, who were then selected for breeding.
[1] The Eggatron is but one of many tron-like developments of Cold War science that sought to control nature through technology, primarily through large centralized computer systems.
Munns, Engineering the Environment: Phytotrons and the Quest to Control Climate in the Cold War (University of Pittsburgh Press, 2017).