sexing by vents? how to?

[jdypat]

i read somewhere on this site..a mention of the vent to determine sex. HOW?

 

[CarriBrown]

The bones on either side of the vent are farther apart on a hen than a roo so they can pass an egg.

 

[greyfields]

You'll need magnifying glasses. Then google vent sexing and just look at all the photos and drawings you can. The male bits will look different from the female's 'genital eminence'.

I only check geese and ducks myself. It just seems the chickens are so much smaller, it would make a hard job harder.

 

[hinkjc]

If you're referring to sexing baby chicks I would say you probably won't be able to do it. The vent checkers at the hatchery are skilled folks that have been doing it for years and still make mistakes. I have heard the average person won't have very good success and for untrained people can even cause reproductive problems in ones they try to vent sex, including prolapse. I wouldn't recommend it, but good luck if you decide to give it a try.

Jody

 

[wclawrence]

wait till they are 6 weeks old and look between the shoulders for pointed feathers starting to come in. Pointed means rooster. rounded means hen. no risk and no mistakes after you learn what you are looking for.

 

[RockinCircleC]

Or watch Dirty Jobs.

Show Title: Chick Sexer
Dirty Jobs: Baby chicken sexer, beer brewer, oyster harvester
Premiere: Aug. 16, 2003
Mike Rowe gets dirty as an Iowa chick sexer. Every Friday there are over 80,000 chicks born at the Murray McMurray Hatchery and it's Mike's job to sort the boys from the girls by the end of the day when they're shipped out to farms around the country.

and/or

 

[billson1]

Quote:
this is only to tell when a hen is laying it DOES NOT work to sex them the pelvic bones are tight together when they are not laying and you can measure by the bones being 2 finger wiidth apart when they are laying

 

[hinkjc]

Or watch Dirty Jobs.

You can certainly watch it and try, but I don't think that will make you the professional chick sexer that those folks are. I know I certainly wouldn't risk it with my chicks.

I agree with wclawrence - wait it out..it doesn't take that long to figure out who is who. On straight combed breeds, you can usually tell by the comb at 3-4 weeks already..5 at most. On others, watch for pointy hackle and saddle feathers to pick out the boys.

Jody​

 

[jdypat]

Quote:
You can certainly watch it and try, but I don't think that will make you the professional chick sexer that those folks are. I know I certainly wouldn't risk it with my chicks.

I agree with wclawrence - wait it out..it doesn't take that long to figure out who is who. On straight combed breeds, you can usually tell by the comb at 3-4 weeks already..5 at most. On others, watch for pointy hackle and saddle feathers to pick out the boys.

Jody

very often i can tell a rooster early, occasionally at hatch. but then comes the times when i dont know for months. most are fathered by a ee and ive been fooled several times
but u knnow its fun in the guessing and the betting . i had two in their cage fighting just like those crazy chickens and thought them to be roos, when a man came to get my roos he put those two out said they were hens. so i missed again.. ha

 

[speckledhen]

They sure can fool you, can't they? Especially those late-blooming cockerels that want you to think they're little girls for months. I've had them in both pea combed and single combed varieties. Some of them just develop more slowly. I was about to say they ought to come in pink and blue eggs, but WAIT! they do! They dont divide by sex that way, LOL.