Foot sexing baby chicks

[SteveBaz]

I just read an interesting article that your post made me want to begin searching for accurate information. After reading numerous articles this is the article from Don Schrider in 2011 I believe sums it up. http://www.backyardpoultrymag.com/issues/6/6-3/determining_sex_in_chicks.html <<< CLICK HERE

 

[Kevin565]

Quote:
I agree. They try to be helpful but haven't been educated enough in some cases. The best feed store here is family owned for many years. They are the only one here who truly know what they are talking about.

 

[rittert3]

The temp. part of that article was supprising to me, steve, I though temps only helped determine sex in reptiles (mainly crocodilians). That might help you get a most desired ratio depending on if you wanted more slaughter cockerls or more layers but I wouldn't consider it a method of sexing.

 

[twentynine]

If leg sexing is unreliable why would a profit seeking commercial operation use it?

I don't know much about business plans, big pictures, and such, however I just don't see a place using such a unreliable method.

Take a second to think this all the way through.

Unreliable sexing means that viable pullets are being destroyed. Bad enough, even catastrophic mistake for a laying operation. But flip the coin! If pullets are sexed as cockerals--- then the next logical conclusion you come to is: cockerals are being sexed as pullets, then expense and effort is wasted in growing them out. That is catastrophic for a laying operation.

If 50% of the pullets are destroyed as cockerals, then it stands to reason that 50% of cockerals are grown out as pullets. Increasing the cost of the mistaken sexing exponentially.

Sorry I just can't make it work. This place would be out of business before the end of the first grow out.

 

[debid]

Are you sure you understood what it was they were looking at? There are birds bred to be sexed by feather growth so they take a quick peek at the wing and toss the females on one conveyor and the males on another (which, yes, sadly leads to a grinder). That method is used in commercial operations and is very accurate if the chickens were bred for feather sexing (I know a number of people try it on random chicks and in those instances, it's more like 50/50).

 

[twentynine]

Running the math through my head----

20,000 hatched per week X 26 weeks = 520,000 per year
50% cockerals = 260,000
50% pullets = 260,000
50% error in sexing would be 130,000 pullets destroyed by mistake and 130,000 cockerals grown out by mistake per year.
So instead of a potential supply of 260k pullets per year, a supply of 130k is supplied, in addition an expense of raising the full 260k is incurred.

No way! Business people ain't that stupid.

 

[rittert3]

All of our sexers would pick a chick up by the foot for not more than 2 seconds and throw it in a box (to go to the grow farm) or down the shoot. These were commercial WHITE leghorns so I wouldn't guess that they were auto sexing, I was the only one there that spoke english and I couldn't understand anything any of them said so it was hard to understand much.

 

[debid]

Quote:
Wing feather sexing is commonly performed on white Leghorns bred for commercial farms. If you didn't know what you were looking at and nobody explained the process, it would be easy to misunderstand what they were doing because it's so very fast. It also requires much less training for the sexers than vent sexing involves and, as previously mentioned, it's very accurate with the strains bred for this purpose. Huge cost savings for the hatchery and no difference for the egg farm's purposes.

 

[txchickie]

Quote:
This is what I am thinking. You can't run a business like that, I'm not buying that that is what they were doing.

 

[rittert3]

I'm thinking now that debid is probably right. All but three of us in the building were non-english speaking hispanics, one asian lady that didn't speak much english and I couldn't understand the other "white" guy either (no explination as to why). So I have no idea what was actually happening there. Ussually asians are the really good vent sexers

I don't know why. But we had 3 young 20 something mexicans doing it.