using extremely high temps to hatch only females

[Minky]

No.

and do you let them come to room temp first or put them right into the incubator?

 

[LaFleche]

I dont have reptiles, and dont like sex links. I like my heritage breeds.

Do you only hatch your own eggs? If so, resulting much more male than female offspring might be caused by stressed hens.

From my experience stressed hens have mostly male offspring, relaxed hens mostly female.

The stressors can be diverse, a rowdy rooster they do not like, or more than one rooster in the flock, or overcrowding, or not enough snuggly nest boxes, or parasites (internal and external) or another hen targeting and bullying. And in some cases even continuous predator attacks.

Incubating with higher temperatures will lead to deformities, not female chicks like others already stated. And using just a little too much heat will have the albumen coagulate and no more development will take place.

This seems to be just one of these fairytales that get passed on without people realizing the consequences and the impossibility of the statement.

Chickens are neither crocodiles nor alligators nor snakes.

 

[Minky]

I watch it every Friday, or Saturday. Watched it since season 1, episode 1.

I love how all the experts look just a little CRAZY lol

 

[MysteryChicken]

I love how all the experts look just a little CRAZY lol

Yeah.

 

[Minky]

Do you only hatch your own eggs? If so, resulting much more male than female offspring might be caused by stressed hens.
From my experience stressed hens have mostly male offspring, relaxed hens mostly female.

The stressors can be diverse, a rowdy rooster they do not like, or more than one rooster in the flock, or overcrowding, or not enough snuggly nest boxes, or parasites (internal and external) or another hen targeting and bullying. And in some cases even continuous predator attacks.

Well I've never had worms or mites, no predator attacks in 2 years and they free range on 27 beautiful acres of paradise,... so... don't think that's it. LOL and nope- I hatch out other peoples eggs as well. My numbers are always around 80%. Also, I have 7 nest boxes for 25 hens, and one very gentle rooster .

 

[LaFleche]

I have had just one exception to the rule: Many years ago, the most dominant of my Black Copper Marans hens generated during all her 7,5 years male offspring only.

 

[Minky]

hatch 1 (under broody- my eggs) 9 eggs hatched, 6 roosters
hatch 2 (under broody- my eggs) 6 eggs hatched, 5 roosters
hatch 3 (under broody- my eggs) 6 eggs hatched, 5 roosters
hatch 4 (under broody- my eggs) 4 eggs hatched, 3 roosters
hatch 5 (incubator- all bought eggs) 33 eggs hatched, 19 roosters
hatch 6 (incubator- mine & bought eggs) 32 eggs hatched, 17 roosters
hatch 7 (under broody) 8 eggs hatched, I think 6 are roosters (maybe only 5)
hatch 8 (incubator-my eggs) 13 eggs hatched -I think 8 are roosters but they will have pea combs and its too early to tell...but I think 8 because of their legs and stance.

So..now you see why I want to find a way to get less roosters.

 

[halefamily_flock]

Do you only hatch your own eggs? If so, resulting much more male than female offspring might be caused by stressed hens.

From my experience stressed hens have mostly male offspring, relaxed hens mostly female.

Ooh, I love this answer! I'm hoping it's true. I like to think I have happy, low stress hens---that's my goal anyway. I've had 3 hatches so far and here's what I got...

Feb 2020: 5 of 6 purebred Dominique eggs hatched, 3 pullets, 2 cockerels
Aug 2020: 10 of 11 Dominique crosses hatched, 6 pullets, 4 cockerels
Dec 2020: 13 of 13 Cream Legbar & Spitzhauben crosses hatched (some sex linked & the rest autosexing), looking like 11 pullets, 2 cockerels

Has anyone else gotten *lucky* with a high ratio of pullets? I wonder if we can compare notes on environmental conditions that could increase pullet ratio

I'm planning at least 2 more hatches in 2021, so let's see if my lucky streak continues.

 

[LizzzyJo]

Well, just remember to call the papers once you crack the code!

 

[MissMonty]

Something else I'd worry about is health defects and somethings may not even be a visible defect but may cause health issues down the road. We just don't know. Maybe it'll make them more or less cold hardy, who knows.

A quick google search led me to tons of claims of getting more females than males but then all of them contradict themselves. Moral of the story is it really depends on your hen. I've seen some say lower temps are better for chicks to be female and males won't hatch, I've now seen it said your way, some talk about light the hen gets, some talks about better chances if the hen is stressed or broody.

Moral of the story, I can guarantee you're not the only one wanting this and I am sure people have tried a variety of things. Thus far there is no agreement as to what actually works. If you really want to try it out and see what happens and take notes.