11 turned out to be boys out of 14 😩

[ShelbyD91]

Why don't you post pictures of your chicks in the breed and gender section? Maybe they'll be a couple more girls in there than you realize

I absolutely will. I’m hoping I’m wrong. Ugh that would be such a relief. I’m headed out there once daylight gets a little better. Thank y’all so so much.

 

[ShelbyD91]

Okay y’all, I’m gonna post them in the other places but I figured I’d start here so y’all will at least know who I’m talking about. Pics are not the best, it’s still not very bright outside. So this is most of them. The last pic I’m pretty sure is a girl so I posted it for reference.

 

[NorthwoodsChick]

I will. Pickensandchigs said they have good customer service so I’m hopeful lol. I sent them an email but I’m super non confrontational so I told them what happened and that I was upset but didn’t ask if they could do anything.

smart move. its much better to simply lidge a complaint via email without being demanding. the delete button is easy to press by whoever’s job it is to read emails at customer service. best to get a voice on the phone. you will prob get a call or request to call. explain your situation then ask if they can send females. if they say no, ask again. if its still no then express your disappointment. it doesnt hurt to mention going to another hatchery in the future, then ask to speak to a supervisor.
McMurrays customer service was fabulous when I received 11 chicks, and had 5 die all of the same rare breed within hours. they made it right, right away. Im sure your hatchery will be helpful..they want you and your chicks happy.

 

[Mdrook]

We have 14 mystic onyx SR chicks from Hoovers hatchary. They are only about 5 weeks old but are starting to show their gender. 11 of them have way bigger combs and legs than the other 3 and trying to strut their dominance. I’m scared that I have a ton of males. I was expecting around half to be male but not this many. My question is- can I contact Hoovers and maybe get a female or 2 or are they just going to tell me too bad so sad? I totally understand that was a risk I was taking buying straight run, but 11 boys?
Sorry if this is a dumb question, I’m pretty new.

Unfortunately they are going to say to bad so sad. If you are in upstate ny area i will trade you a mystic hen for a roo. The hen has a club foot but gets around just fine.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Unfortunately odds are odds. The odds of each chick being male or female is real close to 50-50, but that is for each chick. The total number of males or females just depends on how those individual odds stack up. I once got 7 pullets out of an order of 7 straight run chicks, the odds of that are less than 1 in 100. I actually wanted a couple of males.

3 pullets out of 14 chicks is about 21%. I've had incubator hatches of around 20 chicks and broody hen hatches of 10 to 12 chicks where one sex or the other were in that range. Over time and with enough hatches it does average out but any individual hatch can be way off. I'm not going to calculate the odds of 3 out of 14, I'm not a statistician, but I'd think it is not outrageous. I can be very cynical but not everything is a conspiracy to me. Sometimes it is just odds.

After my first experience ordering straight run, I decided to order what I want. They can still make mistakes, they only guarantee a 90% accuracy for sexed chicks, but by ordering the sexes I want I have some control over it.

 

[ShelbyD91]

For all who voted “too bad so sad” you were right! Oh well. Lol lesson learned for sure. They literally sent their condolences for my luck. . Thank you so much for everyone’s input and support.

 

[Mamatomany123]

I was told by a tractor supply employee that the unsexed chicks are most likley boys. The hatchery they order from put the sexed boys in the unsexed bins, along with chicks that they are not sure on.

 

[ShelbyD91]

I hope I worded that right. But I did let them know that I knew that info and where I got it

 

[JacinLarkwell]

If it makes you feel better, out of my 5 onyxes I've raised, I thought for sure 3 of them were boys. Granted they were bought as pullets, not st run, but still, I thought for sure that 3 were boys. They're fast developers

 

[cluckmecoop7]

I was told by a tractor supply employee that the unsexed chicks are most likley boys. The hatchery they order from put the sexed boys in the unsexed bins, along with chicks that they are not sure on.

One time I bought 6 straight run chicks from tractor supply and ended up with the 6 best little pullets I've ever had