How To Sex A Chicken - Wisdom From An Old Timer

[MuranoFarms]

Your welcome. I live in southern California about a hour and half from LA. I am glad I can help! I recommend expiditing the shipping cause that's what takes the longest cause the lab is in Canada. As soon as they get the samples it only takes about two days for results. I just mailed mine regular mail and it took awhile to arrive.but if you expedite the shipping it will get there much faster. glad I could help! I'm so happy knowing I have two girls!! I didn't purchase the males. Its a great way to buy babies if the breeder will do this. Of course the buyer pays for the dna. but at 10 dollars for one to 9 samples its a great bargain!!

Are all the birds grown now? We're the results accurate?

 

[tatertot]

How cool is that

 

[newbie32]

I tried the on the back thingy today and hopefully it worked. Wes hall see.

 

[michkk2000]

Can you please help me in sexing my standard buff Orpington chick need help thanks

 

[Stewarts]

Definitely going to try this. If its right, its the method I will use.

 

[ronniewayne]

Can you please help me in sexing my standard buff Orpington chick need help thanks

not an expert on orps so I hope some others will chime in here. that looks like a cross ? maybe my color is off on the computer but I would say some sort of red or orange chicken?? looks like a roo with the comb head and stance.. how old is the chick?

 

[michkk2000]

It is 8 weeks old I was thinking a mix RIR but the comb is not red

 

[julie1979]

I actually worked at a chicken farm sexing chickens for over 9 months.... when they had hatched in the trollies they where then put on conver belt.... we would then pick them up and spread there wings. I am unsure of how old they were but prob only a day or so.... just little fluff balls. When spreeding there wings you could see the bones or centres of the feather to be.... not sure what to call it.... if they were all the same lenght they were boys... if they went long short long short they were girls.
I am truly surprised that non of the chicken breeders i have spoken to ... selling pets... know nothing about this.
It must be proven as i was being payed 23.50 an hours for this very smelly job...
At one stage the ladies i worked with said steggels tried to get ridnof there jobs all together however after 2 months of excessive feed loss as the girls wouldnt eat as much as the boys. Steggeles then reinvested in the sexing of the chicken. To save on wasted feed and to also pick future layes.
Once however the feathers start to take shape and grow you will miss this opertunity to see the feather centers....

 

[julie1979]

My wife and I were at the local feed store checking on their new chickens when we were taught a very interesting trick from an old-timer. He says you can hold the chicks up by the scruff of the neck (like you'd hold a baby kitten) and let their feet dangle. He says the males will pull their legs up while the females will always leave their legs dangling.


So we put it to the test. They had some chickens already sexed and we started experimenting, and sure enough the males would raise their feet up and the females would keep them dangling down. 


I had never read about this technique online so I thought I'd share the wisdom. I don't know how old the chickens have to be or if it's only certain breeds but it seemed to work on the 3-6 day old chicks from several different breeds.

s

New to the chicken page but check out what i wrote

 

[Phoenixxx]

My breeder told me this is what she does. BUT today one of my hens crowed like the man he is! LOL I saw him do it. She offered to take him back, but I love having a rooster in the middle of 7 hens watching over them. I am suspicious of the one pictured here might also be a rooster. See his tail feathers? I am thinking rooster. Now, can two roosters actually live in the same flock without fighting? That is a hen behind him with her stubby little tail feathers and not much of a comb. .

I have multiple roos in a small flock with no issues, and one was a later addition and is now buddies with the other low-rank roo. At one point there were 6 roos to 15 hens; some boys became dinner and some girls I sold so now I have 3 boys and ten girls. Even when they were on full lockdown for the storm, no problems. Well, there's the extra crowing, of course - 3 roos make a lot more noise than just one! Some funny stuff in this thread! Thanks, folks!