Seriousbill- your Delawares are awesome!!! pics added

[McSpin]

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I tried sexing them by feathers, and it worked out exactly how they were marked. I guessed that's how they sexed them, since if it did work, it's much faster than vent sexing and less costly. That was before I found out that most if not all known lines out there cannot be feather sexed. Now, I'm curious whether they indeed do feather sex this line or if what I experienced was an incredible coincidence.

 

[klf73]

how is vent sexing expensive?

I thought they just flipped them over and looked? Vent sexing chicks isn't the same as other birds, like parrots etc.... they are supposedly very easy(I personally haven't tried, yet

)
It could be a coincidence, would be interesting to know...

 

[McSpin]

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I'm just going by what I've read. It takes years of training to be good at it (don't ask me why). Because of this extensive training, they are able to command more money. The faster vent sexers are still only about 1/2 the speed of a competent feather sexer. So, an easily trained feather sexer can go twice as fast at a lower hourly wage = saving lots of money.

This would seem to bear out since I've also read that the demand for vent sexers is going down.

 

[McSpin]

I thought I would add... I have tried vent sexing and it is very difficult to learn. I have yet to successfully identify the sex of a single chick with this technique. I learned feather sexing in about a minute and think I could get it right on almost every bird I tried it on from a feather sexing line.

 

[klf73]

hmmmm, didn't know that

I can say that is one subject I hadn't researched....

 

[McSpin]

I just got off the phone with Welp hatchery. My delawares came out of their New Mexico location, and they are feather sexed. This doesn't surprise me. The odds had to be in the millions to one that it was a coincidence that all 30 were on my group had the correct feathering any other way.

 

[seriousbill]

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Well, McSpin, LOL, your calculation of probability is still off, but you were right about your birds and that particular hatchery. Fair enough. This is good information.

 

[speckledhen]

Well, how interesting! Is Privett linked with Welp somehow? Just wondering since they are both in NM.

 

[McSpin]

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I didn't actually figure the odds, just used a large number to make a point.

The actual odds are 1 in 27,000 that it was a coincidence. I'll play those odds anytime.

 

[McSpin]

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I'm not sure how these hatcheries work. Welp shows 3 shipping locations on their website - IA, MN and NM. Could be they have some kind of agreement with other hatcheries. Personally, given the choice, I can't figure out why they'd ship from New Mexico since I'm in New York.