First Run of Cornish Cross Meat Birds and Super Excited!

[Lauravonsmurf]

Let me say with all due respect and having heard this before....

Hogwash....


The sex is determined by the hen, some hens produce more boys some more girls..

Just lke some men have all sons and some have all daughters... Period...

Sorry to be blunt, (well not really) but this non-science where some one says test show, or studies prove....Never have a trustworthy study to quote just some anonymous test or study...

I need a University study or government study for me to buy it...OR I put it in the same class as dangling a ring over a chick to determine it's sex...

Maybe a ring dangled over a egg would work...If it swings left we keep the egg, swings right we eat it.....

I just listed them all... mostly for fun.

I think the hen chooses as that is the basic biology of the chicken and like you I think some just are more prone to produce W or Z. But people say that is hogwash too and if you are not getting 50/50 we'll you just have not hatched enough eggs, it's coincidence etc, but science actually has discovered in mammals there is a reason some horses sire more girls than boys, so I am inclined to think it is the same reason in hens. So then you got to do some serious mommy egg sorting to figure out which birds produce more boys or girls, then try to pick Roos from hens that produce the gender you want at the higher ratio and use only the hens that produce the gender you want at the higher ratio.

I am on the fence on outside influences but I know I have read conflicting studies... so then you got to figure out why the data conflicts, sometimes methods were different, goal of study was not really that subject but was a side finding and so on.

The crazier stuff is just fun trivia, or like I say organizes your farm chores nicely.

But sometimes some old weird wives tale proves true...

Egg shape is one that is surprising me, not saying it is confirmed just prelimerly studies are starting to happen with some results that show it maybe possible. The egg thing maybe be like wing sexing, works on some breeds but not others, some people are good at it and others not. I don't know as there are other wives tales tied to egg shape that have nothing to do with sex but how the chick will develop too.

Myself if I was breeding and the ratio one way or the other was consistently skewed in a direction I disliked I would start trying to isolate hens to collect and mark eggs to track who was producing what.. spreadsheet time, raw data collection time... despite my love of old folklore I am also pro scientific method and putting science to work.

 

[duluthralphie]

I have thought about doing this:

Myself if I was breeding and the ratio one way or the other was consistently skewed in a direction I disliked I would start trying to isolate hens to collect and mark eggs to track who was producing what.. spreadsheet time, raw data collection time... despite my love of old folklore I am also pro scientific method and putting science to work.

And if was to continue to hatch at the rate I did this year I would... but I am cutting way back next year, I am even lending out one of my incubators to a friend for the season....not ready to sell it yet, just incase........

 

[lcertuche]

I had some friends that hatched out over 20 eggs with one pullet and the rest were cockerels! That poor little pullet was miserable. They were vegetarians and wouldn't get rid of the boys. She would fly up on the back of their goat and sit to get the boys to leave her alone.

I got 5 New Hampshire chicks that I thought might be little roos but now I'm almost positive they are pullets. Yeah! One of my pullets has gotten broody so I'm happy. If I can find some young chicks I may just slide them under her and be over the wait. Also I will get what I want that way.

 

[duluthralphie]

I had some friends that hatched out over 20 eggs with one pullet and the rest were cockerels! That poor little pullet was miserable. They were vegetarians and wouldn't get rid of the boys. She would fly up on the back of their goat and sit to get the boys to leave her alone.

I got 5 New Hampshire chicks that I thought might be little roos but now I'm almost positive they are pullets. Yeah! One of my pullets has gotten broody so I'm happy. If I can find some young chicks I may just slide them under her and be over the wait. Also I will get what I want that way.

Why would a vegetarian ever take on meat birds?


JR.. I am thinking of going on a sign removal trip on this one....

 

[Lauravonsmurf]

I don't know why people who are vegetarians would either, unless it was misguided save the animals thing, I can see adopting a couple but 20! I really believe you got to be realistic with your critters... how much space they need, the pros and cons of breeding, how to keep X numbers of X animals safely for them and you, understand them on their terms not human terms, and do what is best for them not just what makes your ego all happy. Meat birds as pets is doable but they take some work... planning just a few birds let alone 20! Yikes.

 

[duluthralphie]

Totally agree. Meat birds can be hard for even a farm kid like me....

They are so friendly and likable. Makes processing them hard.

 

[ZachyWachy]

Yeah, it is going to be hard for me to cull the roos we get from our hens, I believe we have one now, a leghorn hen under a black australorp roo, and he is growing fast! his little comb is already developing and it looks like he has spur development already(there are 2 small bumps on his legs, one each) and he is just getting to be a month old.makes me think that a leghorn bred with a bigger breed makes a good meat chicken, their is the fast growth of the leghorn, and the size of the bigger breed(in my case an australorp). What's worse is that he is the very first chick we have hatched.

speaking of which, our chickens are segregated. We had two more chicks hatch out monday, and their momma is a black australorp. They are almost completely black. The first chick is mainly white, with a buff orpington as a momma. So light with light and dark with dark. lol

 

[lcertuche]

They would eat an occasional egg but they got them mostly to eat ticks.

 

[JRNash]

I hatch a ton of eggs. I DO NOT believe in coincidence. I also Do NOT get a 50/50 split. I end up with more males EVERY TIME

 

[JRNash]

And they taste good!!