Egg gender

[6 littleHens]

So while I'm at home really sick in bed I have been reading something interesting. The History of Animals by Aristotle 350 b.c.e. He says that pointed eggs are girls and round are boys. And that wind eggs can become fertilized and that fertile eggs can change breed with another male romantic encounter. But he is dead now. And I'm just wondering for his sake, what kind of chickens he could have had? Jungle fowl or an earlier sort? Or was he one of those people?

 

[rooster 2011]

the egg gender thing where it says being round and pointed for male and females is a lie I have raised chickens for years and the shape has nothing to do with the outcome of it being a hen or rooster

 

[junebuggena]

People have been keeping chickens for thousands of years. Even the ancient Egyptians kept chickens, just to give you an idea of how far removed modern chickens are from their original ancestors.
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/how-the-chicken-conquered-the-world-87583657/?no-ist

 

[lazy gardener]

So while I'm at home really sick in bed I have been reading something interesting. The History of Animals by Aristotle 350 b.c.e. He says that pointed eggs are girls and round are boys. And that wind eggs can become fertilized and that fertile eggs can change breed with another male romantic encounter. But he is dead now. And I'm just wondering for his sake, what kind of chickens he could have had? Jungle fowl or an earlier sort? Or was he one of those people?

Interesting reading, I'm sure. There was a recent study done that actually indicated that round eggs are more likely to hold a female chick, while pointed eggs are more likely to hold a male chick. Based on this study, I decided to put it to the test. A number of other people are playing around with this information as well. Last summer, I hatched 3 broods of chicks. In each brood (19, 22, and 6) I had 60% female chicks. This was in comparison to random sets in previous years that resulted in 40% pullets. Now, I'm not a statistician, nor am I a scientist. But I am one who likes to experiment, and I will not call something a lie unless I thoroughly investigate it for myself, not just accepting the hear-say of all of the "they said" people. As far as I'm concerned, increasing the hatch of pullets from 40% to 60% makes this experiment worthy of continued consideration. Will be doing the same with my hatches this year. Will I have similar results? Who knows? But, I'll be posting my results. Here's a couple of threads based on these studies, with info posted by folks who are actually experimenting with the theory.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/958517/nutrition-and-gender-and-inducing-broodiness

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/969282/sexing-eggs

 

[6 littleHens]

So so sorry I did not realize that I had posted that here as I had posted this else where and I was sick that day. I had wanted to check new posts here that day also. I do think that evidently Aerostotle was out of his scope of practice here or had it backwards. I just thought that was an interesting read as there were other odd things that were written in that piece. Please forgive me as I am following this thread as I am also an experimenter and do see a positive experience happening. I did not mean to place doubt at all.

 

[lazy gardener]

So so sorry I did not realize that I had posted that here as I had posted this else where and I was sick that day. I had wanted to check new posts here that day also. I do think that evidently Aerostotle was out of his scope of practice here or had it backwards. I just thought that was an interesting read as there were other odd things that were written in that piece. Please forgive me as I am following this thread as I am also an experimenter and do see a positive experience happening. I did not mean to place doubt at all.

I have no idea why you are apologizing! I was interested in hearing what Aristotle had to say about the subject! I certainly hope you didn't think I was criticizing you. If you have the opportunity to set some eggs from your flock this season, please join in and post your results!

 

[6 littleHens]

Lol, I guess I'm still sick. I started with bad sore throat then sinus but thought I was well. But after the day I've had I think I'm still under the weather. I would love to experiment with you but havent had a last happy hatch losing three babies snuggling with mama too close and getting caught in feathers. I do have three beautiful showgirls and three beautiful silkies out of that after removing adoptive moma. They are now five weeks old. So need time to get over those losses.
I think those old writings are interesting though. Once I read an old poultry book that gave directions to water drinker for chickens that didnt freeze. It was a wood barrel that sat on compost I think. Anyways I have tried to find that poultry book that it was in online and have been unable to.
In this writing from Aerostotle, he also mentions that some roosters were butchered and found to have eggs in them I think. Unless I dreamed that, lol. I suspect that chickens change sex or have both more common than we are aware of, lol.
I think that sexing eggs is quite similar to sexing a pregnant woman's belly. Some carry girls in front and some carry boys all over. Yes, we women think that mostly good way to tell but know not perfect 100% way.