I'm about ready to give up!

[crj]

Ok, I don't know if it's me or if I'm doing something unusual. I bought some Indian Runner ducks last year and I ended up with 2 girls and 3 boys. My first hatch with this groupd I got 5 boys and 1 girl. I have my second batch hatching and I already have 5 boys and 0 girls!!!

Can you tell I'm wanting females? What's up with that??? How do I get females.............

could it have something to do with temperature? One of the ducks has a stronger boy gene? I am unlucky at getting girl ducks? Time of the year, maybe?

 

[rebelcowboysnb]

In humans

Males have an X an a Y chromosome

Females have 2 X chromosomes

Females can only give X chromosomes but males give ether so sex of the baby is picked by the male. If the male thrws more of one or the other thats what you get.


In birds its reversed.

Males have 2 Z chromosomes an can only throw a Z

Females have a Z chromosome an a W chromosome. It may be dumb luck or some of your girls may be throwing mostly W chromosomes..

 

[Ridgerunner]

Speckledhen has some hens that she suspects of throwing mostly girls and some that throw mostly boys. I seldom argue with Speckledhen.

I once ordered straight run Buff Orps from Cackle. I got seven pullets and no roosters.

Last summer I hatched 15 chicks, ten were female and 5 were male.

In both cases, I wanted most for meat, not as layers, so I really wanted more males. Seems like we get what we don't want. Wish we could trade luck.

 

[columbiacritter]

I am dieing to see what my husbands fist hatch of his eggs comes up sex ratio wise. He's an "Engineer" so insists the ratio should alwyas be within a certain tight percentage of 50/50. He won't listen to me whe I describe all or near all one sex hatches we used to have ont he farm. It rarely mattered since we ate most of them, but it was insteresting when it was skewed wildly one direction or the other.

 

[Chihuahuamom444]

It doesnt matter how many times my chickens have babies, if they have 8, 7 will be males, and thats if Im lucky...UGH....And every year I swear I will not let them hatch any out and yet I always do, then when I end up with a bunch of roosters I regret it...believe me I wish there was a way to control it

 

[crj]

As far as I can tell only 1 duck is laying. So, I guess I will not hatch out any more of her eggs and wait for the other duck to start laying. Why she isn't laying yet I have no idea. Unless, she is hiding them which I really don't think she is.

Isn't it funny how we all seem to want the opposite of what we are getting. Mother nature with a poor sense of humor at this point...... lol. Maybe it's her way of birth control.

 

[rebelcowboysnb]

Could be worse.... My drake don't know his job.....

 

[jvls1942]

luck of the draw.. I never could figure out the x y z 's..

last year I set 84 eggs for meat birds to butcher.. I hatched out 71 pullets.. go figure.. but it all worked out in the end.. I sold 35 of the pullets to one lady, and traded the rest,, all 36,, six week old pullets for 36 full grown roosters..

I hatched out 25 geese,,, 23 of them were males.. THAT I didn't need.. we still have half of them in the freezer....

 

[rebelcowboysnb]

I would welcome someone to take my drake aside in teach him a sex education class...

 

[gryeyes]

Ya mean it won't do to tell him that lovely duck there, bobbing her head at him, REALLY really likes him?