Air sac determines sex.

[Seaslug]

WAIT. Most of what was given here was constructive criticism. Of an experiment. Not of you personally.
For the most part, everyone is trying to be helpful. People have advised that you moderate your expectations and laid out the reasons why they believe that the experiment will not result in accurate results. But few have discouraged you from moving forward... this is a forum for sharing information. I think that is what people were doing.

 

[horselover1999]

WAIT. Most of what was given here was constructive criticism. Of an experiment. Not of you personally.
For the most part, everyone is trying to be helpful. People have advised that you moderate your expectations and laid out the reasons why they believe that the experiment will not result in accurate results. But few have discouraged you from moving forward... this is a forum for sharing information. I think that is what people were doing.

THIS

 

[Perris]

You should read the posts and respond positively or not at all

so morally the right thing to do is to let the blind lead the blind?

 

[JRies]

I found the link to the original book from 1921 in archives.
https://archive.org/details/howtotellsexofeg00quis/page/4/mode/2up

 

[Sic]

I recently read a booklet by Thomas Quisenberry that was titled How to Tell The Sex of an Egg Before Incubation. In the book it described candling a chicken egg prior to incubation. If the air sac is off center and can only be viewed from the front and sides of the egg, a female will hatch. If the air sac is centered in the end and can be viewed from all sides, a male will hatch. This was proved in a University study. Mrs. Noda Fry was the person who reported this method to Mr. Quisenberry. She hatched 96 eggs and 92 were female. She also described holding a chick by the head. If the legs relax and hang, this is a cockerel. If the legs draw up toward the head/abdomen, this is a female.
Has anyone else ever tried this? I am about to put a couple dozen eggs in the incubator that I have candled using this method.

I wish you luck. If anyone is interested in reading this booklet, you can find it online here:
https://www.nal.usda.gov/exhibits/ipd/frostonchickens/items/show/135

 

[fowltemptress]

Reading the replies to my question, which, I guess hoped would result in positive responses, has truly left me disappointed. Basically, I have had a few, very few positive responses, and a list of responses informing me how foolish I was to
1. waste my time on reading such an article from so long ago
2. dare to think such a method was possible much less probable
3. would harm my new hatched chicks- at the time I posted that response, I was already frustrated with the responses previously received.
4. and how dumb I was because I did not have or investigate the scientific data before making such a post. Possibly leading others down the path of my stupidity for repeating a 100 year old article.

I'm disappointed that this site has made me feel so inadequate in such a short amount of time. I will no longer be following this post, nor will I be posting any additional information.

You should read the posts and respond positively or not at all. Telling someone their ideas are BS is just inconsiderate. If you have not tried something or heard about it, and that was the question, why respond at all.

Please don't feel inadequate! People have to learn. I myself have repeated false information and believed in faulty studies when I was first truly learning about keeping birds (and I'm sure I'm still chock full of false info I don't yet realize is false), and there is no shame in that so long as you're willing to learn. I am grateful to everyone through the years who have taken time to explain where I was wrong and why. The criticism is not directed at you but at the study, and any study that can't be criticized isn't worth anything. Please don't take any of this personally. You also don't need to feel like you can't try it out just for fun - except, of course, where people pointed out something could potentially hurt the bird.

 

[HeyNeighborFarms]

@Boop2006
I just read the same pamphlet last week and we are going to try it as well, why not??!! As people have pointed out nothing else has been proven to work so why not try something from 100 years ago, I am for sure! I think it was a fun read, and it will be a fun experiment.
Positive vibes all the way!

Also please please let me know the results, I have been candling to learn the location of egg air cells for last 2 weeks but I will not do an incubator round until next month.

 

[Sic]

@Boop2006
I just read the same pamphlet last week and we are going to try it as well, why not??!! As people have pointed out nothing else has been proven to work so why not try something from 100 years ago, I am for sure! I think it was a fun read, and it will be a fun experiment.
Positive vibes all the way!

Also please please let me know the results, I have been candling to learn the location of egg air cells for last 2 weeks but I will not do an incubator round until next month.

Pure anecdotal evidence here, so take it with a grain of salt: I did not use this air sac method to determine sex before incubation. However, I did go back through my records..I trace the air sack on the eggs before incubation and the eggs are numbered and photographed, and once hatched each chick is weighed weekly and information is recorded by the egg number they hatched from, as well as the eventual sex. Of 22 eggs, 20 of them were accurate to the placement of the air sac and eventual sex determination. 1 unknown as it expired before hatch, and 1 unknown as it was culled before sex was determined. Modern science determines that this method is unreliable and it's understandable because they are looking for 100 percent accuracy on an industrial scale. However, for small scale, if it improves your odds of hatching the sex you prefer, than why not?

 

[Boop2006]

I recently read a booklet by Thomas Quisenberry that was titled How to Tell The Sex of an Egg Before Incubation. In the book it described candling a chicken egg prior to incubation. If the air sac is off center and can only be viewed from the front and sides of the egg, a female will hatch. If the air sac is centered in the end and can be viewed from all sides, a male will hatch. This was proved in a University study. Mrs. Noda Fry was the person who reported this method to Mr. Quisenberry. She hatched 96 eggs and 92 were female. She also described holding a chick by the head. If the legs relax and hang, this is a cockerel. If the legs draw up toward the head/abdomen, this is a female.
Has anyone else ever tried this? I am about to put a couple dozen eggs in the incubator that I have candled using this method.

UPDATE: I wanted to update for those who felt this method was worth considering. I had incubator issues and some bad weather interference, but was lucky enough to hatch 8 chicks. One was a Copper Maran egg that was male (air sac in the top). The rest of the hatch are female per wing check method and foot suspension method. Gently laying the chick on its back in the palm of your hand and lifting by both feet just enough to clear the palm. Females will curl toward the feet, males will go limp. Could be just a fluke, but I have all females. I am incubating another batch using the same air sac method.

 

[NatJ]

UPDATE: I wanted to update for those who felt this method was worth considering. I had incubator issues and some bad weather interference, but was lucky enough to hatch 8 chicks. One was a Copper Maran egg that was male (air sac in the top). The rest of the hatch are female per wing check method and foot suspension method. Gently laying the chick on its back in the palm of your hand and lifting by both feet just enough to clear the palm. Females will curl toward the feet, males will go limp. Could be just a fluke, but I have all females. I am incubating another batch using the same air sac method.

Thanks for updating!

Please post another update when they are old enough to check the sex by better-known methods like comb & wattle development, saddle feathers on males (usually 12+ weeks), and crowing males/egg-laying females.