The Great SI (Shape index) experiment

[Nksg75]

That stinks I’m still looking forward to the results of this experiment.

I agree!!

 

[Nksg75]

Ok, I am going to post pics of the 3 eggtopsies.
I am having a hard time figuring out the correct color sexing.
I will post the pics here now, then I will have to find a pic from his website and post that.

Egg #1:
This one must have quit a lot earlier than the others. Not sure what's up with the head, and that beak, but that may be why it never grew past this point.

Egg #3:

Egg#5:

I will post the pics of the different colors on Papa's poultry website in just a bit.
If you need more pics of the chicks, let me know because I took lots!!

 

[Nksg75]

Ok, here is the picture of his website. Cockerel is on left, pullet is on the right.....

 

[Nksg75]

Hmm, what do you guys think?
I think they all look the same.
Maybe they would have been easier if they were able to be dried, and fluffed up?

 

[JaeG]

Poor babies! Poor you too! They do all look the same with the white spot on their backs like the boy in the photo. On the webpage the pullet chick doesn't seem to have that spot. You will try again won't you?

 

[lazy gardener]

I did this the past several hatching seasons. Prior ratios with randomly selected eggs resulted in 60% cockerels, 40% pullets. 3 subsequent hatches, doing the egg shape selection resulted in 2 bator hatches, and 1 broody hatch that were 40% cockerels and 60% pullets. The following shape selected 2 hatches resulted in 50% each.

I did try to account for hens which tended to lay pointed vs round eggs. When I could color and shape id eggs from a specific hen, I'd do a comparison of a week's worth of her eggs and choose HER roundest ones. But, now that my flock size is larger, I do not have that much ability to match eggs to specific hens.

I'll be watching to see what your results are. Please tag me when the results are in!

 

[lazy gardener]

Here's my thread related to the subject:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...and-inducing-broodiness.958517/#post-14913741

 

[oregonkat]

I did this the past several hatching seasons. Prior ratios with randomly selected eggs resulted in 60% cockerels, 40% pullets. 3 subsequent hatches, doing the egg shape selection resulted in 2 bator hatches, and 1 broody hatch that were 40% cockerels and 60% pullets. The following shape selected 2 hatches resulted in 50% each.

I did try to account for hens which tended to lay pointed vs round eggs. When I could color and shape id eggs from a specific hen, I'd do a comparison of a week's worth of her eggs and choose HER roundest ones. But, now that my flock size is larger, I do not have that much ability to match eggs to specific hens.

I'll be watching to see what your results are. Please tag me when the results are in!

Would it actually matter which hen laid the eggs if you are only trying to hatch the 'roundest' eggs? I have not read your thread related to your experiment so forgive me if this question is answered there. My very Russian Grandmama swore blind that she could tell if her eggs were going to be roos or hens and also swore that she was right every time but this was long before my chicken owning days. I never had the chance to put her to the test as she also is now long gone . Her theory was round for hens and long and pointy for roos. So simple, niet?

 

[Kiki]

 

[lazy gardener]

Would it actually matter which hen laid the eggs if you are only trying to hatch the 'roundest' eggs? I have not read your thread related to your experiment so forgive me if this question is answered there. My very Russian Grandmama swore blind that she could tell if her eggs were going to be roos or hens and also swore that she was right every time but this was long before my chicken owning days. I never had the chance to put her to the test as she also is now long gone . Her theory was round for hens and long and pointy for roos. So simple, niet?

Nein. B/C if she had such accuracy, wouldn't she only have hatched a single cockerel every year? Your question is an interesting one, which most likely does not have an answer and would be the subject of an other study. It is the hen who determines the gender of the egg. And, some hens are more likely to produce pullets, while some other hens are more likely to produce cockerels. So, perhaps those hens who produce cockerels lay pointy eggs??? So, if a flock owner happens to notice a particular hen who seems to produce more pullets, that flock owner SHOULD make every effort to hatch that hen's eggs, and use her daughters for future breeders.

Then, there is the whole temperature issue. Incubation temp can be tweaked to favor production of pullets. However, when tweaking temp, all that is really happening is that the weaker male embryos are being killed off in early development. So, the hatch rate goes down, but pullet % goes up. Some flock owners also note that pullet to cockerel ratio changes according to the temperature when eggs are collected.