Egg gender selection survey

[ChickNanny13]

I have noticed that a great number of people here at BYC steer away from vent sexing. I don't know if they think it is just too icky or impossible to see. My eyesight is no longer strong enough to sex with day old large fowl chickens. At least not with reading glasses and even 3.00 reading glasses don't give me enough detail. I have some damage and some astigmatisms that require prisms to correct. (I have a eye doctor appointment in June.) But if I let the chicks grow out 2 to 3 weeks their "bits" are large enough for me to see. I haven't grown out any bantams yet or attempted to vent sex them. I have used vent sexing and used feathering to verify it later. And even later still if they start crowing or not. I have only made one wrong call and in that case the chick was under 2 weeks when I vent sexed him.

If you find it too icky just get some plastic gloves and withhold food overnight and sex in the morning. There are some perfectly good videos on YouTube that show the proper way to vent sex. The good thing about waiting 2 weeks is that the chicks are not as delicate and you are not as likely to hurt them if you are a little clumsy at first. Most of course scream indignantly like you are going to murder them though.

I have a hen that lays torpedoes. Half of the eggs she lays are so rounded at both ends I have look at them several minutes before deciding which end is up. And some of them it is a blind guess because she lays a wedding mint green egg that my current flashlight (2000 lumen) can't quite see into. I am going to order the 3000 lumen one next month.

I would be to "chicken" to try, not due to getting dirty but hurting the chicks. This "egg sexing" sounds fun & interesting, wish I could participate. I've raised hatched chicks until 8wks for a breeder...Kept notes doing the wing/feather development, turning the chick on its back tnoting how they carried their legs, size/shape of legs/feet, the comb/wattle coloring (best) but the only guaranteed way is wait for the crow or egg. For the Hobbiest it's all fun, for those selling it's a deal breaker.

Love this site....By the way, is it true that the Hen determines the sex of the chick?

 

[lazy gardener]

It appears some folks are stating gender at hatch without indicating how they determine gender.

Good point Aart. I will have to go back when I have time and look to see if folks are posting their outcomes after chicks are old enough to be reliably sexed. Can follow up with those that are posting gender without reliable info.

Agreed. Height/width/weight measurements and ratios would give some additional quantitative data to allow the experiment to be replicated. While it won't account for external factors like incubator/genetic variability, at least we can compare apples to apples. Subjectivity in descriptors and failure to define pertinent vocabulary is deadly for data driven research. More quantitative data yields a well supported conclusion.

P.S. I'm a (nearly) certified math teacher and can input data into an excel document and run some analysis. I'm just finishing up my master's degree this summer so I'll have quite a bit of extra time. My summer starts May 15th. I could possibly use a google spreadsheet and each person can input their own data.

Ashley, would love to have your assistance with data compilation. Could that spread sheet be linked to this thread???

I would be to "chicken" to try, not due to getting dirty but hurting the chicks. This "egg sexing" sounds fun & interesting, wish I could participate. I've raised hatched chicks until 8wks for a breeder...Kept notes doing the wing/feather development, turning the chick on its back tnoting how they carried their legs, size/shape of legs/feet, the comb/wattle coloring (best) but the only guaranteed way is wait for the crow or egg. For the Hobbiest it's all fun, for those selling it's a deal breaker.

Love this site....By the way, is it true that the Hen determines the sex of the chick?

Yes, it's true.

 

[ashleymroles]

Ashley, would love to have your assistance with data compilation.  Could that spread sheet be linked to this thread???

Absolutely. Let me make one up tomorrow and I'll post the link here. Anyone can edit it.

 

[aart]

Quote: I would suggest that only one or two people have access to edit the spread sheet.
As discussed in the post 52 above, some of the data put into posts here needs to be assessed and clarified.

 

[ashleymroles]

I would suggest that only one or two people have access to edit the spread sheet.
As discussed in the post 52 above, some of the data put into posts here needs to be assessed and clarified.

Good idea. I can change the admin settings to allow only specific email addresses to edit.

 

[Ehlena99]

I just set 82 eggs tonight. I separated into "ones that looked pointy" and "rounded ones" so I would love to participate as I get info!

 

[rottlady]

when I set mine I actually measured every egg at widest point around middle and around lengthwise and split them into equal or nearly so and not even close to equal groups
Those eggs due to hatch this week, only 4 of them will I know sex off immedaitely

 

[chickengeorgeto]

From the 1950s on I have never seen the shape of the egg mean doodle squat about the sex of the peep. However the shape of the eggs largely determines whether that egg will produce a live as well as a healthy chick.

I as well as several friends shipped game fowl to the Philippines, Mexico, Guam, etc. One man I know of raised and shipped 5,000 - 10,000 or more two year old roosters each and every year. This gentleman could conceivably increase his income 100% by reliably predicting the sex of the chick BEFORE it hatched, or decrease his feed bill and other operating expenses by 50%. The best he ever did by sexing his chicks by looking at the eggs was 50-50

Color sexing does work but not any old hen or rooster has the genetic background and it requires specially inbred hens and roosters to be successful. There is not now nor has there ever been a reliable way to sex a baby chick except to look at its junk. I have a joke I could retell here about sexing human infants at the time of conception but this is a family oriented web sight and I doubt the Moderator would laugh.

 

[junebuggena]

From the 1950s on I have never seen the shape of the egg mean doodle squat about the sex of the peep. However the shape of the eggs largely determines whether that egg will produce a live as well as a healthy chick.

I as well as several friends shipped game fowl to the Philippines, Mexico, Guam, etc. One man I know of raised and shipped 5,000 - 10,000 or more two year old roosters each and every year. This gentleman could conceivably increase his income 100% by reliably predicting the sex of the chick BEFORE it hatched, or decrease his feed bill and other operating expenses by 50%. The best he ever did by sexing his chicks by looking at the eggs was 50-50

Color sexing does work but not any old hen or rooster has the genetic background and it requires specially inbred hens and roosters to be successful. There is not now nor has there ever been a reliable way to sex a baby chick except to look at its junk. I have a joke I could retell here about sexing human infants at the time of conception but this is a family oriented web sight and I doubt the Moderator would laugh.

Black Sexlinks are very reliably sexed by coloring at hatch, and it does not require any inbreeding. You simply need a barred hen, and a non-white, non-barred rooster. Looking at the 'junk' is not the only way, and vent sexing is never 100%. My black sexlinks were 100% accurate, when I was breeding them.
This is a let's see what happens sort of thing. It is in no way definitive or a way to only hatch pullets. It's to see if there is any connection at all between the gender of chicks and the shape of the eggs. If we happen to hatch more pullets overall, even by a small margin, than the experiment will be a success.

 

[lazy gardener]

From the 1950s on I have never seen the shape of the egg mean doodle squat about the sex of the peep. However the shape of the eggs largely determines whether that egg will produce a live as well as a healthy chick.

I as well as several friends shipped game fowl to the Philippines, Mexico, Guam, etc. One man I know of raised and shipped 5,000 - 10,000 or more two year old roosters each and every year. This gentleman could conceivably increase his income 100% by reliably predicting the sex of the chick BEFORE it hatched, or decrease his feed bill and other operating expenses by 50%. The best he ever did by sexing his chicks by looking at the eggs was 50-50

Color sexing does work but not any old hen or rooster has the genetic background and it requires specially inbred hens and roosters to be successful. There is not now nor has there ever been a reliable way to sex a baby chick except to look at its junk. I have a joke I could retell here about sexing human infants at the time of conception but this is a family oriented web sight and I doubt the Moderator would laugh.

I would appreciate it if the critics would abstain from commenting on this thread. This is a survey set up for those who want to participate. I will not criticize your husbandry methods, George. I respectfully ask that you abstain from criticizing this experiment. Feel free to follow along. Feel free to participate if you can remain objective.