Sexing eggs!

[KirstieJG]

Interestingly all the ducks eggs that I picked for roundness are starting to quack or rasp and so far, its three girls and one boy. Maybe i'm just having a very girly year.

 

[MosureMom]

So then how do hatcheries guess the gender, I bought 8 pullets, only 1 turned out a rooster, and I heard that their gender method was about 80% correct..So my big question is what method do they use to get that accurate?

 

[junebuggena]

So then how do hatcheries guess the gender, I bought 8 pullets, only 1 turned out a rooster, and I heard that their gender method was about 80% correct..So my big question is what method do they use to get that accurate?

They use vent sexing. And it takes a very skilled, and experienced person to spot the differences between males and females.

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

So then how do hatcheries guess the gender, I bought 8 pullets, only 1 turned out a rooster, and I heard that their gender method was about 80% correct..So my big question is what method do they use to get that accurate?

It depends on the breed -- some breeds are "auto-sexing", meaning that purebred chicks hatch with color/pattern differences between the male and female chicks; there are sex-linked hybrids (mixed breed chicks) which also hatch with male and female chicks having a difference in color/pattern; certain crosses yield chicks which hatch with differences in the feathering rates, making wing-feather sexing possible to differentiate between male and female chicks; for all other chicks (pure breeds that are not auto-sexing) they use vent sexing - which is an examination of the genitalia of each chick to differentiate between male and female. The differences are not as obvious as they are in species with external genitalia and the vent characteristics can be rather diffiult to "read" which results in a 5-15% error rate -- here's one example of the various vents that you can see which shows how telling the difference is so difficult

 

[KirstieJG]

There are a lot of 'old wives tales' about sexing and this thread is just a game really to see if they work or not. I have set mostly round eggs all spring and summer and I definitely had more females to males. obviously this has to be a longterm test though so, i'll add more results next year.

Anyone is welcome to join in the fun

 

[lazy gardener]

I have 3 separate hatches that have provided positive results:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/958517/nutrition-and-gender-and-inducing-broodiness

 

[KirstieJG]

I have 3 separate hatches that have provided positive results:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/958517/nutrition-and-gender-and-inducing-broodiness

Fantastic! I am so happy that we seem to be getting the same results. I suspect that the reason the hatcheries dont use this method is because its not 100% and takes a lot of work sorting eggs and finding suitable hens. Its probably easier to just cull the sex-linked males. I am buying my eggs in but I get the luxury of hand selecting so i can pick the roundest ones.

You are also a lot more patient with the nay-sayers and the debate starters than I am too!

 

[lazy gardener]

Early on, I invited those who wanted to follow along to do so, but requested that those who wanted to tell me all the reasons that it wouldn't work to kindly refrain. I am well aware that it sounds like an old wive's tale, and hocus pocus, but... that's what experimentation is all about... prove or disprove the theory. I was personally surprised that it worked! If my hatch rate can go from 40 to 60 - 68% female, I'll continue to follow the old wive's tale.

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

Early on,  I invited those who wanted to follow along to do so, but requested that those who wanted to tell me all the reasons that it wouldn't work to kindly refrain.  I am well aware that it sounds like an old wive's tale, and hocus pocus, but... that's what experimentation is all about... prove or disprove the theory.  I was personally surprised that it worked!  If my hatch rate can go from 40 to 60 - 68% female, I'll continue to follow the old wive's tale.

was merely answering the question that I quoted

 

[lazy gardener]

I appreciated your pics of the vent sexing. I was not referring to your comments on this thread! Yeah, I realize you were responding to that question, and glad you did. I couldn't have handled it with your detail.