This Is For Everyone Who Wants To Know The Gender Of Their Chicks!

[Cowgirl71]

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Can I please clarify something up front? I'm not your typical teenager. I dress modestly, won't wear black, and refuse to date a guy who dresses in black, wears a hat backwards, dyes his hair, has pierced ears or tattoos. I detest what teenagers have become these days.

But anyway, I may very well be wrong about the temperature thing. I don't know. I'm eager to test it out again next year. I don't mind people telling me I'm wrong, as long as they know for a fact that I am indeed wrong. There is scientific evidence that says this is true with turkeys.

And how do you know hatcheries aren't doing it? They do a lot of things that they keep secret. Their high production sex-link recipes for example. Think about it. If they do come across something that causes 80% pullet hatches, why do they want to share it? If people knew that if they turned up their incubator they could get 80% pullets, then why would they spend $2-3 each for guaranteed 95% pullets?

I don't want to get in a disagreement, especially with you since I feel a little bit of a kinship because we're both cattle farmers.

Like I said, I may very well be wrong. But I believe it is true, until proven otherwise by next spring's sex-link chicks I'm planning to hatch.

 

[Katy]

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Can I please clarify something up front? I'm not your typical teenager. I dress modestly, won't wear black, and refuse to date a guy who dresses in black, wears a hat backwards, dyes his hair, has pierced ears or tattoos. I detest what teenagers have become these days.

But anyway, I may very well be wrong about the temperature thing. I don't know. I'm eager to test it out again next year. I don't mind people telling me I'm wrong, as long as they know for a fact that I am indeed wrong. There is scientific evidence that says this is true with turkeys.

And how do you know hatcheries aren't doing it? They do a lot of things that they keep secret. Their high production sex-link recipes for example. Think about it. If they do come across something that causes 80% pullet hatches, why do they want to share it? If people knew that if they turned up their incubator they could get 80% pullets, then why would they spend $2-3 each for guaranteed 95% pullets?

I don't want to get in a disagreement, especially with you since I feel a little bit of a kinship because we're both cattle farmers.

Like I said, I may very well be wrong. But I believe it is true, until proven otherwise by next spring's sex-link chicks I'm planning to hatch.

It might surprise you but I don't think there's such a thing as a "typical" teen-ager....they come in all varieties just like we adults do.

If the hatchery's were doing it they wouldn't have to sell male chicks for a pittance or end up destroying them....they'd be making sure those eggs they incubate were hatching out female which is where they make the most money. People who go to all the work to hatch their own chicks are not as a rule the hatchery's target market anyway.

My hatches have always varied......some years many more pullets, others more males.....sometimes about 50/50. I run my incubators at the same temps every year so if it worked I'd have the same ratio year after year and I don't.

 

[Camelot Farms]

Cowgirl...I went and read your other thread. It is a very interesting concept.
So your hypothesis would be that a temp of __ and higher will produce ____ and temps of ___ and lower will produce ___.

I do not have sexlinks, but if after your original trial, you are looking for someone to attempt to duplicate your findings, I would love to try it with whatever I have on hand here.
Keep detailed records and I bet a couple of others would give it a go just to see how it played out.

I applaud your spirit!

 

[redhen]

Quote:
Can I please clarify something up front? I'm not your typical teenager. I dress modestly, won't wear black, and refuse to date a guy who dresses in black, wears a hat backwards, dyes his hair, has pierced ears or tattoos. I detest what teenagers have become these days.

But anyway, I may very well be wrong about the temperature thing. I don't know. I'm eager to test it out again next year. I don't mind people telling me I'm wrong, as long as they know for a fact that I am indeed wrong. There is scientific evidence that says this is true with turkeys.

And how do you know hatcheries aren't doing it? They do a lot of things that they keep secret. Their high production sex-link recipes for example. Think about it. If they do come across something that causes 80% pullet hatches, why do they want to share it? If people knew that if they turned up their incubator they could get 80% pullets, then why would they spend $2-3 each for guaranteed 95% pullets?

I don't want to get in a disagreement, especially with you since I feel a little bit of a kinship because we're both cattle farmers.

Like I said, I may very well be wrong. But I believe it is true, until proven otherwise by next spring's sex-link chicks I'm planning to hatch.

Your parents should be proud. You seem like a great young person! I respect what you have to say and the way you say it...

 

[ChIck3n]

I have tried this before, and I never got good results from it. Maybe the behavior is bred in that one strain of birds you have, and it may be around in others, but this does not work on all birds.

Another reason is that if this always worked, the big industry would have done away with vent sexing or breeding for sex links long ago. This would be much easier than training vent sexers or breeding specifically sex linked strains, so would be dropped immediately if this was true (would save them quite a bit of money and trouble). But, alas, we are still stuck with sexing our layers mainly on sex linked wing feather growth.

So use at your own risk. It would be nice to have something easier than vent sexing, but that is currently the most accurate thing for non sex linked strains (besides expensive lab tests

).

Finally, I don't in any way want it to seem like I am attacking you directly. I doubt anyone here would do that. We just want to help correct a mistake that is easy for anyone to make. You may have a legitimate case of it working for your flock, or you may just be statistically very lucky. However this will not work 100% of the time for everyone. I would be interested to see documentation on your flock and when/how often you sexed your birds, as this might possibly be a little known sex linked trait (just a theory of mine).

 

[Cowgirl71]

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Like I said, I really don't want to argue, and I may very well be wrong, but for now I believe that there IS a correlation between temperature and sex ratio. Can we agree to disagree for now?

 

[Cowgirl71]

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Thank you!

I do intend to keep better records next spring. You're very welcome to try it out too and let me know what you get! I'd be very interested!

Unfortunately, I won't be hatching very many sex-link chicks next spring. I'm planning to hatch some Barred Rocks, Rhode Island Reds, and Buff Orpingtons to make my own sex-links the following spring. I will be hatching about 20-30 RIR x BR & SLW sex-link pullet chicks for my egg layers, but everything else will be non-sex-link.

So, I'll just have to keep detailed records and hold my breath until they get four months old before knowing for sure.

 

[sewchick]

I am all for giving it a try when my porcelains hatch. (All 7 were fertile and they came in the mail YAY) However, I will wing sex them to be sure. That seems to work the best for me. I have had 100% accuracy. Can't do much better than that. I tried the vent checking. They all looked as tho they had the same thing. I was not impressed with it. I have no clue what I was looking for. I know that is very accurate if you know HOW to do it. Maybe if I was to see it in person. My eyes ain't what they used to be along with everything else.

You know....a lot of people say that taking a stick and holding in your hands and finding water with does not work. I know it does cause I have seen it first hand. Some say it's just a trick. Pfffft. My Father had found many wells on Chebeague Island with a stick. I forget what it's called. The bark would even peel in his hands it was so strong. It would arch almost down to the ground. The stick looked like a wishbone..sorta. I can't do it nor could my Mother or Brother. My point is keep an open mind. What works for some will not work for others.

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

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dowsing?

 

[Cowgirl71]

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Thank you.

I attribute a lot of it to my parent's decision to home school me, and all of the things that go with that decision.