How to sex the baby chicks?

[bestpractice]

sexing a chick is easy.. the problem is that it's also easy for someone who doesn't know what they are doing to seriously hurt a chick when vent sexing... which I think is the reason why so many people hesitate..


I know there are videos on the subject.. however I haven't watched any of them.. so I'm not sure just how good they are..
personally I would rather teach someone in person.. it's easier that way plus you can show them what to look for and also watch their technique to tell them what they are doing wrong

I'm thinking that if someone is going to hurt a baby chick by looking at its vent, they are probably going to hurt it by some other means as well... Giving someone information on one subject isn't going to keep them from being ignorant about an entirely different subject. I always laugh at the warnings "don't try this at home." You know it will be the really stupid people who will, and they will get hurt. Telling them not to do it is like giving them an invitation.

 

[yinepu]

I'm thinking that if someone is going to hurt a baby chick by looking at its vent, they are probably going to hurt it by some other means as well... Giving someone information on one subject isn't going to keep them from being ignorant about an entirely different subject. I always laugh at the warnings "don't try this at home." You know it will be the really stupid people who will, and they will get hurt. Telling them not to do it is like giving them an invitation.

lol.. I would never tell someone not to vent sex their chicks.. I was just saying I think that's why so many are hesitant to try...


reminds me of when my brother was little.. he saw a chef run potatoes through a potato ricer.. you can only imagine what he did to several chicks while my mother was out hanging clothes on the wash line...
I wasn't around then (I'm younger than he is).. but I remember the stories of those colorful easter chicks meeting their doom
so yeah.. people do dumb things sometimes... I think that's why they have the Darwin Awards...

 

[bestpractice]

lol.. I would never tell someone not to vent sex their chicks.. I was just saying I think that's why so many are hesitant to try...


reminds me of when my brother was little.. he saw a chef run potatoes through a potato ricer.. you can only imagine what he did to several chicks while my mother was out hanging clothes on the wash line...
I wasn't around then (I'm younger than he is).. but I remember the stories of those colorful easter chicks meeting their doom
so yeah.. people do dumb things sometimes... I think that's why they have the Darwin Awards...

 

[kovalines]

Do you ahve any good quality photo or video showing the vent sexing? I mean, showing how is each vent.

 

[bestpractice]

Other than the link here I don't. You can go to Google and YouTube and search. There may be other videos or someone else may know of one.

 

[kovalines]

I found this site... Is it correct?

http://scienceblogs.com/twominds/2008/04/how_to_sex_a_chick.php

 

[bestpractice]

Looks good to me. I thought that this article was pretty amazing.

http://ansc311.blogspot.com/2008/02/new-level-of-feather-sexing.html

 

[Ridgerunner]

Looks good to me.  I thought that this article was pretty amazing.

http://ansc311.blogspot.com/2008/02/new-level-of-feather-sexing.html

The method, called ultraviolet-resonance Raman (UVRR) spectroscopy, took less than a minute, and identified the birds' sex with 95 percent accuracy, the scientists say.


The above is from the link in your article and is dated 2008. Vent sexers can do a lot more than one bird in a minute. Look at the Mike Rowe video for confirmation of that, although I really don't think that gentleman and his relatives vent sex all of the 80,000 chicks that McMurray hatches in one session. But I'd expect they do a significant portion of them.

I'm all for scientific research. You never know where it will lead. This process could easily wind up with a totally different application. But sexing one chick in even as little as 30 seconds would not cut it commercially.

 

[bestpractice]

The method, called ultraviolet-resonance Raman (UVRR) spectroscopy, took less than a minute, and identified the birds' sex with 95 percent accuracy, the scientists say.
The above is from the link in your article and is dated 2008. Vent sexers can do a lot more than one bird in a minute. Look at the Mike Rowe video for confirmation of that, although I really don't think that gentleman and his relatives vent sex all of the 80,000 chicks that McMurray hatches in one session. But I'd expect they do a significant portion of them.
I'm all for scientific research. You never know where it will lead. This process could easily wind up with a totally different application. But sexing one chick in even as little as 30 seconds would not cut it commercially.

Thanks. The comment and link were about the previous post. I thought I would comment and acknowledge the contribution. I'm kinda done with "sexing" I shared the videos and information so others could do it or try it if they are interested Who knew a little information about finding out if your chick is a boy or a girl could "ruffle so many feathers" lol

 

[BAR O BAR ranch]

you folks are a little over my head! We live on a ranch in north central texas. my 5yr old son wanted a few baby chicks last year so we bought 5 red hens, 5 black hens whith white spots, and 5 solid white ones. a neighbor gave us a rooster. the rooster... well, its about twice the size of the hens, feathers all the way to their feet, and sold black. Its a really nice looking rooster but i just dont know the breed. ( anybody know the breed?) To make a long story short, my son got an old incubator out af the top of the barn, and i helped him get it working. By some pure stroke of luck, my son has hatched 23 chicks in the last two months! So my point is, Im a cotton farmer and cattle raiser and my son?... well.. he's five yrs old. All we know about chickens is how good they taste fried on sundays! There has got to be a way for a 5 yr old chicken breeder to know how to tell a rooster from a hen BEFORE they lay eggs or start cwowin! anyhelpwilldooo!!