I hope this is in the right place Is it a 50/50 chance of an egg being a rooster or a hen or are hens more common?
Quote:I guess I was lucky when my husband and I moved to the property we are on there was a hen w/ 10 babies (she hatched them herself) that were left when we got here. There were 8 females and 2 males out of the 10. Guess I was lucky. I am getting some eggs from Dipsy, Eggchel and from an ebay auction I won. I am hoping (keeping fingers crossed) that there will be more females than males. Kim
Last spring i hatched out 7 eggs i got 5 roos and 2 hens. Then the same hen went broody and she had 9 eggs and hatched 5 roos and 4 hens. Same roo for both batchs. On the second batch i was able to tell what they were after a week old by the color and pattern of the chicks.
50/50 over time or in large numbers. It's an average and can vary greatly in smal samples. I once got 3 dozen Bantam R I Red eggs. They hatched great- 33 of the 36 hatched............. 29 Cockerels and 4 Pullets.
Yes, averages over big numbers... I hatched out 18 leghorns once. 50/50.... then hatched out 6 silkies... 5 boys!!!!!
LOL, NYREDS on 29 cockerels. Yep, it's just like a coin toss, a 50/50 chance each toss. It's possible to toss that coin and come up with heads 20 times in a row. Not likely, but possible. I will add this: there's been some talk on other boards about nutrition playing a role. Because, apparently, there's some evidence that well-fed hens produce slightly more female offspring. Now, don't quote me on that. I only remember seeing it discussed a bit. Maybe someone else knows more about it.