using extremely high temps to hatch only females

[TomNY]

Nothing will hatch

Solves the unwanted rooster problem.

 

[Minky]

I'm sure it because no one wants to read through 13 pages.... but the conversation is not " will a hotter incubator turn the eggs into females."
the conversation is ... IF the incubator is set at a higher temperature (no, not 110) for example 103.. will more of the male eggs NOT hatch, leaving more females...???

If has been suggested to not turn, and too refrigerate. Also to add apple cider vinegar to hens water leading up to collection ....

No one is suggesting higher temps will CHANGE the eggs gender, (although one poster has linked an article that temperature fluctuations DID in fact turn 10% of females into males).... read the article for details...somehere maybe page 7 or 8??
ANYWAYS...

I am the OP and I love roosters- I just am sick of having 70% roosters or more!!!

 

[MROO]

I'm sure it because no one wants to read through 13 pages.... but the conversation is not " will a hotter incubator turn the eggs into females."
the conversation. IS ... IF the incubator is set at a higher temperature (no, not 110) for example 103.. will more of the male eggs NOT hatch, leaving more females.

If has been suggested to not turn, and too refrigerate. Also to add apple cider vinegar to hens water leading up to collection ....

No one is suggesting higher temps will turn eggs gender, although one posted has linked an article that temperature fluctuations DID in fact turn 10% of females into males.... read the article for details...somehere maybe page 7 or 8??
ANYWAYS...

I am the OP and I love roosters- I just am sick of having 70% roosters or more.

I rarely have more than a dozen in a clutch, but I've had stretches where 60-75% of my hatches have been male. One year, I had three females hatch - out of three clutches. THREE! The following year, it was split half and half. Last year, we had mostly ladies (hurrah!!)
Pretty much everyone I've asked - and we have a LOT of 4H families who have been raising birds for generations - and it doesn't seem to matter what we do to try and influence the outcome. It's simply the luck of the draw.
{{{...sigh...}}}

 

[BDutch]

The only serious thing I have found you can do : change the weight of the hen several weeks or months before you gather fertilised eggs.

 

[Minky]

I rarely have more than a dozen in a clutch, but I've had stretches where 60-75% of my hatches have been male. One year, I had three females hatch - out of three clutches. THREE! The following year, it was split half and half. Last year, we had mostly ladies (hurrah!!)
Pretty much everyone I've asked - and we have a LOT of 4H families who have been raising birds for generations - and it doesn't seem to matter what we do to try and influence the outcome. It's simply the luck of the draw.
{{{...sigh...}}}

Yep same here. Last year I had broody hens all summer. Got 14 cockerels and 2 pullets from 3 hens sitting.

 

[Rossarinya]

I'm sure it because no one wants to read through 13 pages.... but the conversation is not " will a hotter incubator turn the eggs into females."
the conversation. IS ... IF the incubator is set at a higher temperature (no, not 110) for example 103.. will more of the male eggs NOT hatch, leaving more females.

If has been suggested to not turn, and too refrigerate. Also to add apple cider vinegar to hens water leading up to collection ....

No one is suggesting higher temps will turn eggs gender, although one posted has linked an article that temperature fluctuations DID in fact turn 10% of females into males.... read the article for details...somehere maybe page 7 or 8??
ANYWAYS...

I am the OP and I love roosters- I just am sick of having 70% roosters or more.

I'm with you I got 9 of 12 chicks hatched as roos this year! I suspect somehow one of my hens in that trio is throwing all boys? The 1 random egg accidentally hatched was from outside the breeding trio I was working from was female. Go figure.

 

[Minky]

The only serious thing I have found you can do : change the weight of the hen several weeks or months before you gather fertilised eggs.

what does this mean??

 

[ozzie]

This article explains the science behind it and the rationale. There does seem to be some scientific basis for it (eg of bush turkeys but it’s related to embryonic mortality rates more so than the temperatures affecting the sex of the chick). But this study conducted in broilers found no evidence to give credibility to the hypothesis

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0032579119384251

 

[BDutch]

what does this mean??

See page 11 for the source of this:
If you’re hens are light and lay light eggs you need to feed them more for more female offspring.
If you’re hens are heavy and lay heavy eggs you have to feed them less (restricted) to get more female offspring.
So my conclusion is:
: if you’re hens are lighter and lay lighter eggs then the standard weight of the breed, you should feed them more to get heavier eggs.
: if you’re hens lay are heavier and lay heavier eggs then the standard weight of the breed, you should feed them less to get lighter eggs.
: maybe the outcome is better if you only collect the medium size eggs.

p.s. /edit: this investigation is from 2014. But because they stil had a significant number of male chicks it was not interesting enough for commercial farming to follow this up as a bigger research project.

 

[SoFlockingHappy]

Something I have read about and tried myself is to hatch fat bottomed eggs. It's an old wives tale that skinny/long/tall eggs are said to be "roosters" and short/fat/round eggs are "hens." I always pick out the fattest bottomed eggs i have and i get about an 80/20 ratio. Coincidence? Maybe. But i still do it.