Sexlinked Silkies??

[Saveadane]

I was just wondering if anyone has attempted to make a cross like this. People are ALWAYS looking for silkie pullets, and this would be one way to guarantee sex upon hatching. Now I know that the offspring would not be a standard color, but for us cityfolk who can't have roosters this would be a dream come true. No more pouring our love and money into roos that we will have to rehome anyway. I know this puts a lot of boys out of luck, but I would pay 3-4x the price for a sexed silkie chick. Yes, I know that MPC sells sexed silkies, but this could be a real seller in the local market, no? I have been thinking about this for some time, and I would do it myself when we get our land, but I don't think that I would have the heart to cull the little guys, lol. Anyway, tell me what you think of this idea.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

And who do you propose we sell the cockerels to? I have way too many roosters as it is; I don't need to be breeding in a manner that will guarantee roosters that I'll have to keep.

 

[Poulets De Cajun]

Quote:
Amen to that!


And MPC doesn't sell sexed Silkies... the sell educated guesses.

 

[chicklady63]

Saveadane,
That would be great wouldn't it? Your question is probably one a lot of folks would ask. And I would guess the silkie roos would go the same route as the roos of the other sex-linked breeds. It's long been my understanding that all sexing of day-old chicks, etc., is an educated guess unless they are a sex-linked breed. And I do realize they are very small and not breed for meat production as I have had silkies for years.
No one ever wants too many roosters - it's too bad that they will usually make it successfully out of a batch of otherwise poorly hatching eggs. And I say too bad, because we all require more pullets than cockerals. A sad fact, but true. Maybe you should work on this project when you get the space to do so! The culling would be hard for me, too though.

 

[Saveadane]

Well, most of these guys get culled at some point or another, don't they? The ratio of chicks is 50/50, but most people don't keep their flocks at this.
If I am willing to pay 3-4x the price for a sexed female and leave the breeder with her brother (assuming a 50/50 ratio) I guess I am essentially paying him to do the deed for me. In my opinion that is what you are really paying the hatcheries for when you get sexed chicks. You are willing to pay the extra because you don't want to have to off the little fellas yourself. Besides, I know several Asian families that buy silkies because the are good eating, and it is frustrating to know that they eat just as many pullets as cockerels.

 

[Poulets De Cajun]

Quote:
In a perfect world.... out of 5 chicks hatched from my lavender to black breeding, I got 4 cockerals. Go figure out which sex I was hoping for...

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Well, since I NEVER UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES KILL my birds, and would not sell to someone that I knew was planning to do so ...

I cull by giving birds to neighbors, selling them as pet quality, adding to my laying flock or putting them on bug patrol in the yard--removing them from my breeding flock.

I do not sell hens or pullets, only pairs, occasionally trios.

 

[chicklady63]

I don't usually tell folks this, but here I go on the internet, no less,

...anyway, I have found - repeatedly - that if I lower the temperature in my incubator lower than recommended I always get a much greater proportion of pullets to cockerals. Perhaps it's a fluk, but it's been a reliably repeatable one. This is why I prefer to not use a broody. I know it's the case with reptiles and people tell me the sex of chicken eggs is already determined at fertilization as in mammals, etc., but chickens aren't mammals, and it really does work. I have done this with many batches of chicks. It is funny to me that when I do hatch under a broody the results are usually 50-50. When I break the clutches up over several hens, and even breeds, and use the incubator at standard hatching temps the percentage of males is much higher. Why, I'm not certain. I imagine this method of lowering my temps will get lots of dissention, perhaps understandably. But sometime maybe you could try it with eggs that your own chickens have laid so you don't lose any valuable eggs you have bought. Just a tip...

 

[Saveadane]

chicklady63,
Do you see a higher mortality rate among fertilized eggs that you incubate at the lower temperature than those at a standard temperature? In mammals, males are the weaker sex and are more likely to die prior to adulthood. But in birds the females are theoretically the weaker sex, which is why we sometimes see more males successfully hatched, unfortunately. It is true that some species have an incubation temperature that is optimal for one sex over the other, resulting in unequal hatching frequencies. I have never seen a study proving it in chickens, but I won't deny the possibility.

 

[chicklady63]

I haven't seen that, but I could certainly see how that could be possible and highly likely - at least with shipped eggs which are already somewhat compromised to say the least. The eggs I have used have all been my own. I'm not sure I would tempt fate with valuable shipped eggs. The ones I were hatching were my chocolate Old English as I was really needing more females, and my cochin bantams. I knew I could just collect more and start again if anything went awry. I will mention that I have had absolutely no birth defects which you might think could be a possibility as well, but I feed my birds breeder rations and add vitamins to their water - especially before collecting eggs I want to incubate.

PS - There's another recent post today where someone asked about this regarding roos and higher temps and there has been at least one other response besides my own where the person has seen a higher ratio of females when using lower temps. The temps I use are about 97-98 degrees, forced air, with an auto turner.
I would also add that the incubate I use is not overly old and I sanitize very well before adding the eggs. Some of the styrofoam incubators lose good hatching ability after a 2 year or so period, if that.