I know the answer, but gotta ask anyway...

[Windrider]

True, they were meant for meat anyway (with one to keep, to replace a favorite who died last year), but I was still hoping for girls because I can let the girls grow out and put more meat on those bones. I can't have roosters where I live, so these will have to go in the next couple of weeks, before they have a chance to start crowing, and they'll be scrawny Plus, if I keep the one girl, she'll be awfully lonely without a peer buddy. These chicks grew up with the flock and are integrated, but the hens still harass them for good measure and the pullet is the most timid of them all. If I had at least 2, I could keep them until they grow up, start laying and get accepted by the elders better. Then, the one I keep, wouldn't be such an outcast and on her own. But now she's about to lose all her siblings in a couple of weeks, and will be one saaaaaad loser after that

True, true. But you did have orp cockerels in the past that were late bloomers and took ages to crow. You may get some meat on those bones yet!

 

[K0k0shka]

True, true. But you did have orp cockerels in the past that were late bloomers and took ages to crow. You may get some meat on those bones yet!

One of my neighbors hates the chickens and put me through hell last time (tried to get the town to ban chickens and/or take mine away... it was ugly). So I can't risk it, he's looking for any excuse to harass me again. Also, I'm going away on vacation in 3 weeks, leaving my husband to tend to the chickens, and I can't drop this time bomb in his lap. He can't process chickens, and I don't want him to have to deal with the neighbor. So... Bad news for the boys, unfortunately.

I wonder if this hatch can be a data point in the theory that lower incubation temperatures produce more males. I started out with 11 eggs, but my broody from this year kept messing up, nest-hopping and leaving the eggs uncovered, or not covering them well (letting some roll out and not tucking them back under) etc. So I wonder if the ones she lost were the girls because they weren't being properly kept warm enough No way to know, but it does make me wonder.