The Great SI (Shape index) experiment

Sara L · May 17, 2018

Nksg75 said:
So, I assume you will have to wait a few weeks to be able to tell sex with quail correct?

I think I could probably post results for about half of them. There are several that have the traditional markings so I know...they are boys. A lot of boys. But there are several that I can't sex by feather color, so have to wait about another two-four weeks to be able to tell by behavior or vent sexing. I ended up with three chicks from the Italian parents that are English White coloring, except the spots are golden instead of brown. Not sure how that happened.

CABINHOLLOWNC · May 19, 2018

Nksg75 said:
Sooo.. what are the results??
I am dying to know!!

Sorry it took so long to get back to this...it's been a little crazy around here..
Well...the results aren't what I had hoped. I ended up with 4 girls and 5 boys. The breeder I got them from also hatched a boy in the high 70's range, so my theory is that she has a hen or two or three that have a high male SI number, meaning their 78 to 80 will be boys. I marked the eggs below that I was present when they hatched and can confirm which egg they came from and what sex they were. I went to bed at almost midnight on 5/4 and when I got up the next morning poof...the others had hatched. So, I can't say for sure that the other two dark chicks/females came from the eggs with the SI's in the 80's, it's my guess that they did though. So...I am going to try another hatch. I plan to only get eggs that are 80.3XXX for the next hatch and see what I end up with. I just need to get rid of 4 of these boys! I have to keep the little boy that hatched with my initial on his tiny little head...I mean how could I not?? As for my Olive Egger hatch, my predictions were spot on for 5 pullets and 3 cockerels...it's hard believe they are almost 12 weeks old! I'm going to come up with some kind of divider for my incubator so that I can keep the eggs/chicks separate and be able to tell who came from which egg. They don't need to be roaming around rolling their siblings eggs around like they were anyway...LOL!

Here are the results:
Egg # RESULT PREDICTED SEX
2 - 79.82201 F Was awake for this hatch - MALE
3 - 81.23475 F Was awake for this hatch - FEMALE
4 - 79.32692 F
5 - 77.8466 WC -Was awake for this hatch - MALE
6 - 81.01956 F DID NOT HATCH
7 - 80.42955 F
8 - 80.08123 F
9 - 79.78881 F
10- 79.78895 F
11- 80.44919 F Was awake for this hatch - FEMALE

Sara L · Jun 3, 2018

Sara L said:
I think I could probably post results for about half of them. There are several that have the traditional markings so I know...they are boys. A lot of boys. But there are several that I can't sex by feather color, so have to wait about another two-four weeks to be able to tell by behavior or vent sexing. I ended up with three chicks from the Italian parents that are English White coloring, except the spots are golden instead of brown. Not sure how that happened.

So, tomorrow the quail will be 6 weeks old. A lot of the boys started crowing this past week. I have them on artificial light as they are in my basement and when I turn on the light they all go nuts running around and the boys have a crowing contest. I watched the "girl" group this morning (7 Coturnix 1 Button quail) and one by one I watched the Coturnix puff up and crow except for one. The last Coturnix I just can't tell yet, it didn't crow but I tried vent sexing last night and I'm still not sure if it's a boy or girl. It is one of the white ones with Italian spots, parents are Italian coloring. I'm almost hoping it's a boy because I haven't had good luck with white quail previously, they were either neurotic or clearly had genetic issues so had to be culled.
I will watch the "boy" group tomorrow if I have time before work, I know by feather color alone there are 3 definite boys, 1 definite girl, and 2 maybe-girls. There are 9 Coturnix and 1 Button quail.
So frustrating to have so many boys

The button quail "boy" and "girl" I still can't tell which gender each is - they seem to take a little longer than the Coturnix to mature, or at least to grow a bib if they are boys.

SiriusChicken · Jul 20, 2018

I’m glad I found this thread, I had two hens who wanted to set and I was curious after I read that Shape Index study on higher SI values giving 30% higher chance of female chicks. I wondered if I got a range of SI for each hen and only used her highest SI values if it would improve the chance of getting females. I recorded hen’s name, date laid, time laid, weight, width, length & SI on every egg from each hen for a few weeks to get a range of SI for each hen.
(I refrigerated all eggs at 38-43 F for 1-16 days except for one egg I put under the hen straight from laying. I forgot to turn them until the last couple days of the 2nd batch. The 16 day egg hatched fine, a 2 day & a 4 day cooled eggs died).

I have 4 English Orpington hens (slow feathering), 1 hatchery Barred Rock-Dominique? with a Rose comb (fast feathering) & a Cream Legbar rooster (fast feathering), so since the Orpington hens are slow feathering I was able to sex their chicks at hatch.

My info:

Rezz - Silver Laced - range of SI is 72.22 - 82.86.
I set 7 eggs: 80.53 - 83.86 SI. (Her eggs are oval & teardrop)
Weights: 57.5g - 61.2g (61.2 died in nite & 58.0g needed hen’s & my assist)
Hatched: 6 females & 1 female died in egg.

Theebee - Gold Laced - range of SI is 71.28 - 77.78. (All her eggs are pointy teardrops)
I set 3 eggs: 77.78 SI.
Weights: 59.0g - 61.0g (60.3 died & 61 needed hen’s assist)
Hatched: 2 females & 1 female died after hatching.

Zara - Silver Laced - range of SI is 77.78 - 82.35.
Set 1: 79.98 SI. (Her eggs are all teardrop)
Weight: 52.6g
Hatched: 1 female.

Onyx - Barred Rock - range of SI is 71.07 - 75.66. (Her eggs are all oval)
Set 2: 76.66 SI.
Weights: 59.6g & 60.3g
Hatched: 1 male & 1 female (possibly).

Nibbler - Silver Laced cross - range of SI is 71.78 - 80.58. (Her eggs are large teardrops)
Set 2: 76.05 - 80.58.
Weights: 63.9g & 66.6g
Hatched: 0 both infertile.

Results 9/9 female Orpington cross chicks, or 11/11 if you count dead ones, and 1/2 female Barred chicks. Total 10/11 female chicks or 12/13 female chicks if you count dead ones.

(The Barred possible male had 3 bright white stripes at hatch & white ring on neck, narrow white barring at 2 weeks but rose comb is getting pink. And possible female had only 2 pale white stripes at hatch and smaller defined head spot, at 2 weeks ahe’s black with white wing tips & just a touch of white barring starting at shoulders. Both equally fast feathering. Will update if I’m wrong.)

Not enough data with my small test but it appears not to work as well on hatchery hens as on English Orpingtons. I’ll read more of these threads to see what hens others used.

I got my Orpingtons & Cream Legbar from Papa’s Poultry if anyone else has his hens & wants to try this I’d be interested in their results.

The first batch of chicks is 4 weeks old & the 2nd batch is 2 weeks old. 5-7 will need homes so I’ll have to do a rehoming post soon. I wish I could keep them all but I already have too many pet chickens hanging out on the doorstep begging for treats.