Boy/Girl ratio?

[crittergal]

I had 13 chicks hatch on Saturday, and by using the wing growth method to determine sex, one is a boy, one I am not sure, and the rest are girls. Has anyone else had that happen? I always thought it would be about half and half.

 

[Shannon's Chix]

50/50 is not exact...if it were they should tell my first hatch which was 8 boys out of 12 and my second is looking like 6 boys out of 8!

 

[Bookworm chick]

My first hatch was 4 pullets and 3 cockerels. This time, however, I'm imagining I'll get ALL cockerels. I only put two eggs under the broody, and that was because she was so determined and I didn't want too many additions to my small backyard flock.

 

[cluckcluck42]

I *think* I have got 8 pullets out of 11 my first hatch, but this could change as they are only 6 weeks old. I definitely have half pullets, that is for sure.

 

[raimnel]

I'm sure it's some where on BYC but can you explain the wing sexing? Please!

 

[crittergal]

Sorry I haven't replied sooner, I was having computer problems. I found out about the wing sexing on BYC, but this is the first time I have used it, so I don't know a whole lot about it. But it seemed to be consistent with the sexed ones at TSC. When they are a few days old, the easiest for me is 3-5 days, but I could still tell a difference at 1- 1 1/2 weeks, it just wasnt as noticable.
The pullets grow their wing feathers in faster, so their feathers are longer and a little uneven, there are usually two rows of feathers growing. The cockerels don't grow their feathers in as fast, their wings are shorter and the feathers are all even along the edge. I picked up the roo and a couple pullets when they were about 1 1/2 weeks old, and his were still shorter than the pullets.

I have someone that wants all pullets, but they do not have their coop ready for them yet, so I will be keeping them probly another 2 weeks or so, so I will hopefully see other signs by then (larger, redder comb, etc) and see if there really is only 1 roo.


Oh yeah, there is also a video on You-Tube, that is what I watched, it makes more sense if you can see what I am talking about. Just do a search for sexing chicks, I don't remember for sure what her user name was though.

 

[pdsavage]

Feather sexing

Feather sexing is easy, but it requires that the chickens be specially bred to manifest their sex in differences in the feathers as hatchlings. These are usually hybrids rather than true breeds, and are called sex linked chickens. Female chickens in these breeds have longer wing pinfeathers than the males do, which makes them relatively easy to tell apart. Most chickens do not have these traits bred into them, and the hatchlings are identical to all but the skilled eye of the professional chicken sexer.

Feather sexing became possible in 1969 after several years of genetic research by the Tegels Poultry Breeding Company. This method used to determine the sex of newly hatched chicks is only possible if a female from a slow-feathering breed is crossed with a male from a fast-feathering breed. The sex of the chicks produced from this cross can be determined during the first 48 hours after hatching by looking at the primary and secondary feathers located on the chick's wings. The primary feathers will be noticeably longer than the secondary feathers on a female chick. On a male, the primary and secondary feathers are the same length.