The tiny serama; a Hatching adventure

[WoDia]

Yup, I know. That's mainly why it puzzles me. He has offspring with over four different hens, and the amount of males produced in all cases was much higher than the females. What are the chances of all of his hens to favour males? I find it a little funny



It's the opposite in humans

This isn’t about chickens, but I have a group of King quail hens that kept producing a majority of males no matter which roo I’ve placed them with. I finally gave up with those hens and chose a new group. This year, the results were totally different, and I did end up with more females. It’s trial and error, Fluffy. Hang in there.

 

[SwampPrincessChick]

This isn’t about chickens, but I have a group of King quail hens that kept producing a majority of males no matter which roo I’ve placed them with. I finally gave up with those hens and chose a new group. This year, the results were totally different, and I did end up with more females. It’s trial and error, Fluffy. Hang in there.

In that case, all of Fluffy's Serama hens' eggs may happen to lean on the male side when they are fertilized. Not Lady Gaga's fault, but the hens.

 

[WoDia]

In that case, all of Fluffy's Serama hens' eggs may happen to lean on the male side when they are fertilized. Not Lady Gaga's fault, but the hens.

I was glad to get different results choosing a new group of hens. It was very interesting to me, but I wish I’d done that sooner. Perhaps Fluffy will try again with a different serama roo. We love you dearly Gaga, but Fluffy needs some girls!

 

[SwampPrincessChick]

I was glad to get different results choosing a new group of hens. It was very interesting to me, but I wish I’d done that sooner. Perhaps Fluffy will try again with a different serama roo. We love you dearly Gaga, but Fluffy needs some girls!

If some hens produce more males and some hens produce more females, then that would make it genetic, correct? If I am right, then that means you could possibly breed chickens (or any other bird) to have a heavy chance of producing female chicks instead of male chicks. You could make a breed of chicken like that, although they would be more on the rare side due to not many males available. I am just thinking, I have no idea if the genetics work like this.

 

[BDutch]

If some hens produce more males and some hens produce more females, then that would make it genetic, correct? If I am right, then that means you could possibly breed chickens (or any other bird) to have a heavy chance of producing female chicks instead of male chicks. You could make a breed of chicken like that, although they would be more on the rare side due to not many males available. I am just thinking, I have no idea if the genetics work like this.

I don't think any breeder can make this work. It's not genetic in that sense.
Just to share for fun: e.g.: our queen Juliana in mid 20th century had 4 daughters. The next queen Beatrix had 3 sons. Our current king Willem Alexander has 3 daughters.

 

[WoDia]

@SwampPrincessChick You’ve really got me thinking about this. If I was to use the same hens and roo again, what are the odds of getting at least near to the same result? I’ve had it happen, so I have at least one breeding combination that’s flipped from producing primarily males to now more females. Well, I’d have to breed them again to find out! And, what really gives some hens the propensity to produce more of one sex over the other? Hmmm… how much is genetic, or how much is some sort of an anomaly? Or, both spurred by some rare condition?.. a magical mix. I wonder. Now, I’m really thinking I should consider another attempt to get similar results again.

 

[tlcmurphy]

It’s not genetic, it’s random (just doesn’t seem that way). Each chick has a 50/50 chance of being male/female, just like every coin toss has a 50/50 chance of landing on heads. You can toss a coin 100 times and get heads each time, unlikely but possible.

 

[2ndTink]

@SwampPrincessChick You’ve really got me thinking about this. If I was to use the same hens and roo again, what are the odds of getting at least near to the same result? I’ve had it happen, so I have at least one breeding combination that’s flipped from producing primarily males to now more females. Well, I’d have to breed them again to find out! And, what really gives some hens the propensity to produce more of one sex over the other? Hmmm… how much is genetic, or how much is some sort of an anomaly? Or, both spurred by some rare condition?.. a magical mix. I wonder. Now, I’m really thinking I should consider another attempt to get similar results again.

Yes! Hatch more! This is interesting

 

[2ndTink]

It’s not genetic, it’s random (just doesn’t seem that way). Each chick has a 50/50 chance of being male/female, just like every coin toss has a 50/50 chance of landing on heads. You can toss a coin 100 times and get heads each time, unlikely but possible.

At what point does the hen pass on the Z or W? Meaning, what point in the egg development does this happen?

 

[tlcmurphy]

At what point does the hen pass on the Z or W? Meaning, what point in the egg development does this happen?

Would have to be at “conception”, just like with mammals.