How do I know I'll hatch hens, not roosters?

[FLITZ]

I say just incubate some for fun knowing you will end up with some roosters. I'm sure you will be able to sell the roosters (prob for not much) or give them away. I would bet If you posted roosters for free on Craigslist they would go. Or post a flyer at the feed store. They're not going to make a loud (or quiet) crow when they are chicks so you will have some time to figure out the roos and unload them.

Incubating will prob be much more fun than buying chicks. Just hatch out some extras. sell them..give them away or whatever

 

[AinaWGSD]

Ok here is one for the record books...incubated 20 eggs, 12 hatched ... of the 12, only one was a hen!!! So...what's up with that? Did we do something wrong? Isn't gender determined at fertilization? Does temp/humidity play a role?

Well, if the 8 that didn't hatch were hens, that gives you your approximately 50/50 statistic right there. Gender is determined at fertilization, but gender has no bearing on which eggs develop and hatch and which eggs quit sometime during incubation or develop fully but do not hatch for whatever reason. Although, rules of statistics like this work best on large numbers. Twenty eggs, or 12 if you count only the ones that actually hatched, is such a small sample that general statistics don't always work out. Now, if you hatched out 100 eggs, and only 10 of those hatchlings were female, then you might have "one for the record books."

Humidity doesn't play any role in determining gender or percentage of one gender that hatches over another. Temperature can, however, play a role in the percentage of one gender that hatches over another, even in birds. In reptiles, temperature actually influences the gender of the developing embryo...the gender is not determined at fertilization. In birds, gender is determined at fertilization, but temperature can affect how many of one gender hatches. I think it's higher incubation temperatures will cause a higher percentage of hens than roosters to hatch. However, it does this because the male embryos are more likely to die at the higher temperatures. It's not that the higher temperatures cause more hens to be produced, but that more of the eggs that do make it to hatch are female...your overall hatch rate will be lower though because fewer eggs will hatch than would have if left at the correct incubation temperature.

 

[williab]

Just returning to check for any responses...Thanks to everyone for the info ( we are "newbies" )!!

 

[marshallshumway]

hatchery hire traveling sexers and they look at the wing pattern to determine the gender. i think the day old male chicks have a smooth pattern and the females have a rigid look or vise versa i am not sure

 

[HEChicken]

hatchery hire traveling sexers and they look at the wing pattern to determine the gender. i think the day old male chicks have a smooth pattern and the females have a rigid look or vise versa i am not sure

This is not correct information! The professional sexers vent sex. Wing feather sexing can only be done in certain breeds at a certain time.

 

[lizanne]

This is not correct information! The professional sexers vent sex. Wing feather sexing can only be done in certain breeds at a certain time.

Feather sexing has to be done within the first 48 hours, I think. It only works with certain breeds. Here is an article about it.

http://animalsciences.missouri.edu/reprod/ReproTech/Feathersex/sld001.htm

This is one of the pictures that explain it.

 

[lizanne]

I read an article that said that if you refrigerated the eggs first, you are more likely to get more girls. The thought behind it was that the male embryos are not as strong as the female ones. The cold temps would cause the "male egg" to not develop, or not make it to hatch. (I'll try to find the link to the study). I tried it myself with grocery store fertile eggs. They had been refrigerated for about a week before I bought them. Out of the 12 , 6 made it and hatched. Out of those 6 I ended up with 3 pullets and 3 cockerels. *go figure*

 

[NikkiCole5]

This is an old article, but I was curious about something. I incubated 5 duck eggs and all 5 hatched out as males, is that normal?

 

[Snow bunny]

Hi, Nikkicole5

I found a site motherearth.com and I am trying this on my next batch. I am on semi rural and are allowed one rooster. Apparently the more oval the egg the more likely a hen. The more pointy the egg the more likely a rooster. Some say this is an old wives tale, but I am going to try it out, so why don't you try it too. It is worth a try.

I have tried by shape of feather and a hand print before the tail feathers, but the chicks have to be older and this could fail as the chick grows.

I hope this helps.

 

[lazy gardener]

Feather sexing only works on certain breeds. I also read the study re: egg shape as it relates to chick gender, and decided to put it to the test. My experimentation increased my hatch rate from 40% pullets to 60% pullets. Not bad odds, IMO.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/958517/nutrition-and-gender-and-inducing-broodiness