Cackle article claims NH and RIR autosexing?

[SheaLoner]

I came across this article from cackle today. https://www.cacklehatchery.com/22-autosex-breeds-of-chickens-and-geese/
It claims these breeds are auto sexing. Has anyone found this to be true?

I have some Freedom Ranger New Hampshires coming next month and will do my best at trying this on them. I think there was some difference in previous batches but dont remember for sure.

 

[SpicyDisaster]

I came across this article from cackle today. https://www.cacklehatchery.com/22-autosex-breeds-of-chickens-and-geese/
It claims these breeds are auto sexing. Has anyone found this to be true?
View attachment 3002984
I have some Freedom Ranger New Hampshires coming next month and will do my best at trying this on them. I think there was some difference in previous batches but dont remember for sure.

I'm going to have to go dig. We had four Buff Orpingtons last year and I don't recall any of them having dark spot or dorsal stripes.

 

[Iluveggers]

I’ll check out my Buff when she gets here & report back!

I think most of these were autosexing at one point, but weak bloodlines at hatcheries have eliminated the capability of doing so. 2 of my 3 barred rocks had huge white spots on their heads last year which made me nervous. All 3 were females.

 

[SheaLoner]

I wonder how hard it would be to breed that trait back in to a bird? I know the NH Im getting are a dedicated meat line so mayne they still have this trait?

 

[SheaLoner]

A Great resource link on Genetics and chixk sexing.
https://poultry.extension.org/articles/poultry-management/sexing-day-old-chicks/

 

[SheaLoner]

Finally got my NHs from freedom Ranger. Order is a little off but the free cx makes up for it.
Not all the chicks showed markings described in the article.
Out of 16
5 with headspots, no white wing mark as female, pink band.

3 white wing marks no headspots marked as male, blue.
2 had headspots and wing marks, marked with yellow.

And the remaining 6 had no discernable markings. Untagged.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

@WallyG74

 

[SheaLoner]

I will try for a few better pictures later. And use this thread as a log.

 

[WallyG74]

@WallyG74

I can speak on the RIR part just a little. I’ve hatched RIRs the last 2 years to sell in just small batches. Recently @The Moonshiner made me aware of these traits in RIR chicks. In the last batch I hatched I made sure to take note and mark chicks to verify this. All of the chicks did not have these distinct markings. Out of 22 chicks, I had 3 males that stood out among the rest with very bright down on the leading edge of the wings. I marked these and they are definitely males as they are 6 weeks now and there’s no doubt. I also picked out 3 females to mark. These had 2 black dots on their heads and the down was a good bit darker than the males. There was maybe one that had a very faint dorsal stripe. Those 3 are definitely females. There were other females with the dots but I only marked the ones that I planned to keep. The plan is to have only the ones with the most prominent markings and try to breed for that in the future. I buy my hatching eggs from a farm in the neighboring county so this will be my first RIRs to actually grow to adult birds and start my own breeding program. If it works out the way I plan, it will be a huge advantage when it comes to selling new chicks.

 

[SheaLoner]

I can speak on the RIR part just a little. I’ve hatched RIRs the last 2 years to sell in just small batches. Recently @The Moonshiner made me aware of these traits in RIR chicks. In the last batch I hatched I made sure to take note and mark chicks to verify this. All of the chicks did not have these distinct markings. Out of 22 chicks, I had 3 males that stood out among the rest with very bright down on the leading edge of the wings. I marked these and they are definitely males as they are 6 weeks now and there’s no doubt. I also picked out 3 females to mark. These had 2 black dots on their heads and the down was a good bit darker than the males. There was maybe one that had a very faint dorsal stripe. Those 3 are definitely females. There were other females with the dots but I only marked the ones that I planned to keep. The plan is to have only the ones with the most prominent markings and try to breed for that in the future. I buy my hatching eggs from a farm in the neighboring county so this will be my first RIRs to actually grow to adult birds and start my own breeding program. If it works out the way I plan, it will be a huge advantage when it comes to selling new chicks.

Thats the plan with these. It would be nice to breed the trait back in.