sexing eggs?

[sydney13]

this is a silly question

but my friend (who knows nothing about chickens) told me that you can sex a egg by use some type of equipment

ive always wanted to hatch eggs but cant have any roosters so im just wondering if this is true although im sure its not

 

[TheBeatlesAddict]

Unless your a professional I don't think you can tell until they are a couple weeks old. However I am not an expert, ill be watching to see what others say...

 

[Rennie]

Surely you cant sex an egg ..It has to be impossible..

Most people cant even tell when they are hatched let alone when still in an egg ...

 

[sydney13]

i just read that the oval eggs tend to be females
has anyone ever tried this and hatched females?

 

[UGAchick]

Oh my goodness - I got into an argument with my co-worker over this very topic. She swears that her grandmother who has raised all types of poultry uses a special string with weight thing to sex eggs. She claims to be able to tell by the way the weight swings the gender of the chick. I think it is ridiculous.

 

[SarahIrl]

There is some research in the UK as to sexing eggs by weight, but only heard of this by hearsay so could be totally unfounded. I'm sure if there was a way, commercial hatcheries wouldn't be culling roos by the thousand!!

 

[buckabucka]

I read that they can now sex an egg with a very, very fine needle, which is inserted and somehow detects the hormones. This is very new technology and unable to be used on a massive scale yet (like at a hatchery).
I do hope that they can develop this procedure so that it is inexpensive and efficient, as it would mean the excess roosters would not have to be disposed of (people could eat the eggs) and the desired number of males and females could be hatched.

Robin

 

[SpringChickens]

The special string sounds like the weight people swing around their belly. It works real well - 50% accuracy even!!

I wouldn't believe sexing eggs by weight either - I get all different sized eggs. It doesn't matter if they're fertilized or not; how's it going to matter if it's a cockeral or a pullet?

If you wanted to sex eggs, you could theoretically do a biopsy AFTER the chick has started to develop and look at the DNA - do karyotyping or PCR, but it's not going to be cost effective.

If you want to hatch eggs, I'd say that you should hatch eggs! You can always sell roosters or cull them when they're old enough to tell.

 

[MiniBeesKnees]

I have one OE that always lays long pointy eggs, and I have a d'Uccle hen that lays eggs so oval you can't tell the top from the bottom.

 

[chikkaboomboom]

Well my Ma maw could tell you if it was a boy or girl with a wedding ring on a piece of string over your belly..and family lore says she was always 100% right, if you know my Ma maw youd run out and trade for what she said it would be..lol:/