Is it common..

[kcflock]

to buy sexed chickens that end up being wrong? We got 5 "pullets" but ended up with 2 roos. We got 5 more and I'm pretty sure there is at least 1 more. Just curious if this is something I should expect or if maybe we are buyibg from people that are just guessing.

This is our first flock, so I'm just trying to figure out what to expect.

 

[Pork Pie]

It can depend on how they were sexed and skills of those doing the sexing. Some hatcheries use vent sexing, whilst certain breeds have been developed to allow wing feather sexing, and others sex-linking (visible difference in feather colouring at hatch). There may well be other methods.

None are 100% but I'd say the skills of those you bought your chicks from were not too hot.

 

[Cindy in PA]

Most hatcheries claim 90% accuracy, but there are always mistakes. That said, when ordering 12-25 chicks over the years, I have only gotten 1-2 roosters total that were not ordered. Of course the one recent time was when I had already ordered a rooster. Hoping for a rooster in my 13 now, but at 8 weeks I think I am out of luck. I will only have one if one of the 2 Australorps that I'm watching fools me!

 

[kcflock]

We just bought 10 more from a different feed store, so I hope we get luckier this time

 

[Ridgerunner]

Where did you get them? As Cindy said hatcheries are fairly good but they are not perfect. You can occasionally get a male when you order pullets. I very seldom order pullets, most of my orders are straight run or all male. I've probably ordered somewhere around 20 that were supposed to be pullets and got one male with them.

If you got them from a feed store that changes. The chicks still come from a hatchery so the odds are the same from that aspect, but not all the people at all the feed stores know what they are doing. Sometimes they are mislabeled or they are put in the wrong bins. Most feed stores are pretty good at that but you have an extra layer so you have another opportunity for a mistake.

If you got them from an individual who knows what method they used or their skill set.