temps affecting sex of chicks???

[rhoda_bruce]

Well I hatched out a batch of chicks on Feb 17, and a surprising amount of them seemed to be pullets. It was the cockerals I was really after for meat, but I got what seemed to be pullets....in large amounts (using the old fashion hanging by the head method)
Well I read a few weeks ago about another method of sexing and today I tried it out, along with the hanging method and again a surprising amount of pullets, with my Easter hatch. I was saying to my daughter (biology major) that it can't be that this is right. She began talking about frogs and alligators having more of certain sexes depending on the temperature and suggested a possibility that the setting I have on the incubator might be perfect for a big pullet hatch.
For whatever it is worth, I seemed to stay at 99.8, give or take a point here and there, but the hatches occured about a day and a half early on both occasions, but with a fairly decent success rate.
Any ideas please???

 

[klf73]

nope, temp has no effect whatsoever on gender. Wish it was true but it is the same as people, gender is determined by the parents

you got what most of us are looking for though, lucky you to hatch so many pullets...

 

[lemurchaser]

Chicken sex is determined at fertilization. The female chicken is ZW and the male is ZZ, meaning that the sex of the offspring is determined by which gene the female passes on. In mammals the male is the one that determines the sex of the baby. These are set from the time of fertilization and don't change based on temperature. You've just got a bunch of hens that make girl chicks, or just got lucky... or unlucky if you wanted boys.

 

[Festa X11]

I have heard that the time of year can also affect the sex, colder months bringing on more cockerels, I think it`s a myth but you never know

 

[panner123]

Chickens are the same as humans, you get what you get. Over time it will average out at 50/50. Last year I hatched out 40 BCM eggs, 32 were roos. Go figure. Hope for just the opposite this year. I have even shipped some of my eggs to my sister in Pa. for her to hatch.

 

[rhoda_bruce]

Well in one way I came out very far ahead, because on both instances I had a sale and most people were interested in obtaining the pullets. The first go round, I retained most of the cockerals for meat, but lately people started showing up wanting to learn how to slaughter their own cockerals, so they can begin taking care of themselves, so I will have less to slaughter, myself, in a few weeks and whatever unsold cockerals from my Easter hatch can make up the difference. I hope for at least 10.
If I sell all my chicks within the next 2 or 3 weeks, I think I will start thinking about a June hatch. I can do a May hatch, but my mom will start talking about the 'Malidy May,' I don't really believe it, but some older Cajuns won't hatch in May because they say something always goes wrong and they all drop dead. Whatever. But if people keep coming to buy the chickens I plan on eating, I will have to just keep hatching. So much the better if they do......my incubator and hatcher might pay for itself in the first year.

 

[panner123]

If you are only hatching for meat, it is much cheaper to buy your meat birds. They sell them as cocks only and they are cheap.

 

[jberger10]

You should do some research cause I have heard before that chickens can undergo sex changes while in the egg

 

[Laurelm]

Hanging by the head method?? What's that method? It sounds pretty rough for the little ones.

 

[lemurchaser]

Quote:
Nope, all studies have shown that sex is determined at fertilization. Just like in mammals.