Sexing eggs!

[charliewhiskey]

I will be eagerly waiting for the results. Of course we will need to repeat the experiment it to make a case. When it comes to critters and science (some call it Biology) nothing is beyond the realm of possibility except Abiogenesis and therefore non-Intelligent evolution.

 

[lazy gardener]

Interesting theory and I wonder how it applies to my hens. Each of my hens lay eggs which are very unique from each other. One, for example, a Brown Leghorn, always lays sausage shaped eggs.....always. Another lays "golf balls"....always! And so on. If the theory were correct then I should assume that each hen lays eggs of only one sex because each hens' eggs rarely vary in shape. As a Biologist I have a difficult time accepting that one hen lays only eggs of one sex.

I will follow this with interest.

Do you plan on hatching any of those eggs? If so, join the experiment! Especially if you can tell your hen's eggs apart. Gather the sausage eggs for a week. line them up beside each other, and pick several of the ones that have the closest length to diameter ratio. Do the same for each of the hen's eggs, selecting the least pointed eggs of the hen's offerings for the week, and set them. Or even better yet, divide your incubator, putting rounded eggs on one side, pointed eggs on the other side, and band the chicks as they hatch.

I have left all round eggs with my girls and I got all hens. Pointy eggs are roosters. I have different breeds of chooks and I get the same results each time.

It seems to me that the anecdotal evidence, no matter how fruit loopy it seems is pointing towards there being some justification of this old wive's tale.

I have observed, over the course of several hatches in my Rcom egg shaped fully transparent rotating incubator, that medium eggs relative to larger eggs reliably produce more female chicks.

In my first hatching the female to male ratio of hatched chicks was 50%. Eggs were randomly selected based on color diversity. I maintain a diverse flock for the sake of diverse eggs, which sell out quickly at the local Framer's Market, marketed as "Rainbow Eggs." We keep white, brown, dark brown, tan, rose, green, blue, and olive layers in our flock.

I found that the first eggs to hatch from eggs all laid and collected on the same day tended to be the larger eggs, and they resulted in male birds. I related this story to a biologist friend who also keeps hens, and she remarked about how testosterone is even active in the gestational period, which stands to reason. It was as if the male chicks had stronger foot thrusts and were able to kick off their shells faster. Smaller eggs in the incubator took longer to hatch, even if they started rocking earlier than the larger eggs. The smaller eggs tended to yield female chicks.

So I began selecting smaller eggs to put in the incubator, desiring more female chicks. It's a ten egg incubator, so it's easy for me to keep track of position with the slots numbered on the rotating disk. Sure enough, my female to male ratio of hatched chicks increased by selecting medium sized eggs. With this selection method I now average one or two cockerels to six to eight pullets per hatch. I have not selected for the smallest eggs, assuming there may be some reason for the smaller size, some possible deficiency, and not wanting unhatched eggs or physically challenged chicks. This is just an assumption on my part, I have no real basis of proof regarding the smallest eggs and their viability.

This is purely anecdotal information, although it works for me. I'm simply a novice chicken husband, and it occurs to me that if my method were reliable it would be well known and used for thousands of years with breeders of egg layers. Although perhaps the information was somehow lost along the way, hard to say.

I won't be incubating again for several months, although I will keep pointy eggs v. round eggs in mind. I'll try selecting round, medium sized eggs for incubation, with a goal of 100% female chicks in my hatches. There's bound to be a random cockerel hatched from time to time, and I find that a ratio of twelve hens to one rooster is ideal for meeting their reproductive needs.

Interesting re: size and gender outcome. I don't doubt it. One thing I noticed with my sex linked chicks is that the females were routinely smaller than the males. Not having noted which eggs they came out of, I can't say that the female eggs were smaller than the male eggs, but it makes sense that a smaller chick would come out of a smaller egg.

i do not think egg sexing is possible. we can tell what chickens lay what eggs in our flock. the size, color, shape, and even dimples on the eggs are the same day after day. we have also had some of these traits of our hens eggs passed to their offspring, which debunks this whole theory as the offspring of that hen would have all been roosters.

I assume you are hatching eggs? Join the experiment! Proove it wrong. That was my original intent.

I will have to try this. Interesting. I hatched 7 large eggs and out of that got 1....only ONE hen!!!! I will have to try smaller eggs.

Don't forget to include shape in your selection criteria.

If one is selecting eggs from a BY flock, it cost nothing to experiment with your gender outcomes! So far as I can tell, those pointy eggs taste mighty fine, and I've increased my female hatch rate by 20%. Is it the roll of the dice, 50% odds with each egg, or is there something to it???

 

[jeffkerle65]

I have set 19 hen eggs, 9 Isa Brown & 10 Golden Spangled Hamburg, all are rounded point eggs so I will let you know next week when they hatch, between 10/25/15 <=> 10/30/15.
I also set 5 turkey eggs, 3 are longer(on right) & 2 are shorter(on left).


I have marked them as Jenny for the shorter ones & Jake for the longer ones, due to hatch 11/1/15 <=> 11/2/15.
Don't know but will find out soon.

 

[svfarm]

I would just like to add that unlike mammals, like cows and goats, the sex of a chicken's offspring depends on the female. And a lot of my hens lay consistently shaped eggs. One hen lays pointed eggs that are almost always male (one female out of 3 small hatches).

 

[lazy gardener]

Keep that info coming, it's food for thought, if nothing else!!!

 

[angry rooster]

Love this thread I can't wait to see more results

 

[jeffkerle65]

YES, I just love to experiment to find out things for myself. Every thing you read in a book will not or may not work out as I have found out over time.
Most books are written by people from what they read in books, not from first hands on experience.

 

[goosie mad]

I have set round"eggs and have had a good lot of pullets from them, only got one rooster from 10 eggs, but the problem I had was CROWS getting my chicks, I also have a duck sitting on 6 eggs and I am not sure about them, does the same go for them to be round also, I had a hen sitting on 4 duck eggs last time and she brought them all out but 3 was boys, I just hope I get more girl ducks this time, will let you know and try to send photo's.

Thelma

 

[CherriesBrood]

YES, I just love to experiment to find out things for myself. Every thing you read in a book will not or may not work out as I have found out over time.
Most books are written by people from what they read in books, not from first hands on experience.

So true!

 

[redsix]

This is just for fun.

I am on my third incubation this spring. I have had a time of it as this is the first year that I am hatching with an incubator. My first hatch gave me only 1 out of 17 eggs. That was a tough pill to swallow as it hit my arrogance hard; I believed that if a chicken could do it then it must be easy. Now I have had to face the sobering thought that a chicken is better at something than I am!

But, the last hatch was 3 out of four ducklings, 3 out of four bantams and 1 out of 1 buff sussex! Yippeee

They are now two weeks old and, this is the important bit, I set all non-pointy eggs. They should be, according to science, pullets.

I have no idea what they are yet gender-wise but I will announce it on here. If anyone else also wants to set non-pointy eggs and tell me what they got, I would love to hear about it.

The key is not the roundness or length of the egg but the least difference in the circumference at each end of the egg. see photo diagram.


Sorry its sideways but basically, in the picture egg A would be a roo and the others pullets.


Who is with me in this egg-speriment?

My mom used to subscribe to this theory. We usually steered away from the pointed eggs when selecting eggs for hatching. I do remember one time she hatched some white leghorn eggs in an incubator and all of the 15 that hatched were hens. Now, I don't know if she took out the pointed eggs that time.