How do I know I'll hatch hens, not roosters?

[blkwdw]

I had an old Cherokee Indian tell me that the "male eggs" are long and pointy and the "female eggs" are rounder. Can't hurt to try...especially if you get to pick the eggs you incubate.

 

[aveca]

heres someyhing interesting , and too bad it didnt work for chickens ...when they hatch baby alligators, the incubate the eggs at something like 99 degrees and hold that temp throughout incubation, they get all females. they incubate the eggs at somewhere around 101 get all males...that is true...im sure if it worked for chickens somone would have done it by now...wish it did work for chickens, it absolutly works for alligators and crocks.chickens are a little more complicated i guess..

 

[aveca]

my one and only blk orp hen pretty much every egg she lay is long and pointy , those are in the bator now so will let you know how that works out...i will corral those into their own brooder.

I had an old Cherokee Indian tell me that the "male eggs" are long and pointy and the "female eggs" are rounder. Can't hurt to try...especially if you get to pick the eggs you incubate.

 

[Illia]

I had an old Cherokee Indian tell me that the "male eggs" are long and pointy and the "female eggs" are rounder. Can't hurt to try...especially if you get to pick the eggs you incubate.

Yeah sorry again, not gonna work. All my Polish lay pointy eggs, all my Marans lay very round eggs yet I get 50/50

 

[blkwdw]

Well, there you go. All your polish chickies are roosters and your Marans hens.. 50/50

 

[The Chickeneer]

haha it took me awhile but I get it now

 

[williab]

Ok here is one for the record books...incubated 20 eggs, 12 hatched ... of the 12, only one was a hen!!! So...what's up with that? Did we do something wrong? Isn't gender determined at fertilization? Does temp/humidity play a role?

 

[HEChicken]

In mammals it is the male who determines gender, however in birds it is the opposite - it is the hen who determines gender.

However, I heard the other day that there is some evidence to support that a young rooster over older hens will produce more hen chicks, while an older rooster over young hens will produce more roos. I have no idea if this is true, or where the data comes from but found it interesting. I have a flock of hens ranging from 1-3 years to which I will this year be adding a roo who is currently only a few weeks old. I will be interested to see if this plays out or not but won't be able to report back for a few months yet.

 

[hillbilly chick]

experts sex the chick after they hatch. my hen don't set. so i get eggs and put them in an encabator. all eggs are hen eggs,roosters don't lay eggs,hahhaha. just kidding, my eggs are about 50% hen 50%roosters.

 

[hillbilly chick]

temp. is a verry larg role.