Old Wives' Tales???? Temp for girl versus boy...?

[BaileyMChicks]

I know this thread is old, and this is more to do with the time of year, but some people say that if you let a hen hatch out chicks in spring there's a higher chance of more hens, and in the summer there's a higher chance for more roosters. I don't really think this one is a myth though. The reason being is that I let my hens hatch out 10 chicks total this year. I ended up with 2 roosters and 8 hens. The first hatch got set around the middle of May, and all five were hens. The second hatch got set around mid June, and out of the 2 eggs I got 1 hen and 1 rooster. The 3rd hatch got set around the 8th of August, and I ended up with 2 hens and 1 rooster out of 3 eggs. I don't think it has much to do with incubation temperatures when the chicks are developing, but instead has more to do with the temperature outside/time of year when the egg was fertilized or layed....just my opinion. It could be false and just a coincidence, because my hatches were too small to get any real data, so I will continue to monitor this in the future.

 

[CrazyTalk]

The sex is determined by the time the egg is laid. By the fifth day of incubation, the sex organs are forming. No chance for a change due to temp. That only applies to reptiles. As Akane said, more males may survive temp spikes, etc.

There's no chance for a change - but there is some bit of truth - but not in any sort of way that's helpful.

The bit of truth I've seen is that roo chicks are significantly more hardy in the shell - so when I have incubator issues (like the temp running too high/low), I get ratios significantly tilted towards more roos.

So, there IS an optimal temperature for pullets - it just gets you roughly 50%.

 

[gimmie birdies]

If you are going to experiment, I would try lowering temp on days 2.5 to 5 that is when sex is decided. I doubt it would change sex, but it might kill off males.

 

[lazy gardener]

From all of my reading, gender is decided before the egg is even fertilized. The female releases both male and female ova. With chickens, I've never heard that gender can be changed. The male or female chicks can be killed by unfavorable temps, but gender not changed. I'd be interested in seeing a study that states that gender can be changed in an egg, and under what circumstances that would happen.

 

[gimmie birdies]

I did not say that.

 

[CrazyTalk]

If you are going to experiment, I would try lowering temp on days 2.5 to 5 that is when sex is decided. I doubt it would change sex, but it might kill off males.

Sex isn't "decided".

Every cell (from the ova on) is either male or female based on the chromosome layout it receives from the ova.

 

[gimmie birdies]

that is when the sex organs are growing I should have said. but I also said the temp difference will not change sex, but may kill off males.

 

[lazy gardener]

Got it.

 

[gimmie birdies]