Male and female percentage on straight run chicks

[CindyS]

I just talked to someone at an auction who was selling some roosters. He said he had ordered 50 straight run assorted chickens. (From murray mcmurray) He got a good assortment, BUT 48 roosters and 7 hens! No way it was straight run! some deliberate dunking into the rooster trays! I asked him if he complained, he said yes, that they said they had no control over percentages on straight run, yah right!

 

[Momma_Cluck]

That's just wrong!

Ours was a straight run (bantam mix) and we had 7 Roo's and 8 Hens... Not a great ratio-- but to be expected.... but NEVER that high a % of Roo's!!!

 

[columbiacritter]

Not the first time I've heard of people being shafted on strt runs from McM

I helped a friend butcher 30 roos from a strt run order of 35 barred rocks. Her sister had almost the same thing happen with Polish the year before.

Someone told me they fill the pullet orders then the strt run from what's left.

 

[Opa]

I bought 18 welsummers from Estes Hatchery and with a dozen BAs. The welsummers were straight run and I got 19 of which 6 were cockerals. I've been told you should typical expect about 45% cockerals with most straight runs.

 

[hinkjc]

The usual is 50/50, however that can vary from hatch to hatch and I've seen it here in my own hatches. Sometimes I get lots of girls, other times lots of boys and other times about half and half. There's no rhyme or reason to what hatches it seems.

 

[wings]

I had twelve chicks straight run. 7 were roosters and 5 were hens. I guess those are pretty good odds, right???

 

[hinkjc]

I remember a time I did a small BO hatch to raise up some new young pullets for the next season. I hatched 11 babies and 10 of them were roos.

Then I heard from a couple folks who say they get high percentages of pullets from my eggs. It's kind of a like a box of chocolates..you never know what you're gonna get.

 

[your_pal_skip]

I always thought that the sex of the chick was determined by the temperature during incubation. Somebody told me that at the county fair when I was a little kid, and it stuck in my head. Of course now I know that it's only true for reptiles, but it does make you wonder what's going on with 90% cockerel or pullet hatches.

Of course there is this crazy patent: http://www.freepatentsonline.com/5575237.html

The gist is that carefully controlled temperature changes during incubation can slightly effect the ratio of females to males, but it's likely that the ratio is changed because one of the genders is more susceptible to being killed by the change in temperature.

 

[Growingthehome]

I'm pretty sure straight run is just a way for them to shaft people with the roos way fewer people want. I mean, think about it, you have someone buy a lot of hens for laying and eating... And ONE maybe TWO roosters per 10-15 hens. What happens to the rest of the 50%? Thrown in "straight runs". They have to sell them somehow.