Vent Sexing

[Sumatra503]

So I have to vent or beer sex them. Great.

I put a male in their cage and he mounted everyone. Not sure if that means they're females or just a dominance thing, cause I've seen that one before.

 

[Madcap621]

Quote:
So, It's time to make some decisions!

I need guidance! I have been watching and listening for a bit more than a month now

, getting up to 4 eggs a day so KNOW I have some hens but more males [like 10 or 12!]. I need to decide who to keep for breeding roos

There has been some carnage, some from an unexpected quarter. The other day about half of the birds knocked the [inadequately latched] cage door open and went exploring. Most just went under the cage to scratch, play and bathe in the poo and wasted feed but 4 decided to visit the dogs [2 Paps and a Toy Fox Terrier ---- VERY poor choice in travel plans! ]

. I noticed the terrier's extreme interest in a corner inaccessable to his cage ..... checked out and there huddled a little cock quail

The only remaining evidence was 2 missing quail and a dozen or so feathers in the TFT's bed!

The other thing I have noticed is that more than half the males seem not to be crowing and are picked bald! 9 of the 11 birds in the cage are males. One of the most vociferous roos was the Manchurian, but now he is bald, subdued and doesn't crow any more! I just finished vent-sexing them. I have 4 hens for sure, a 5th wild colored one with a speckled breast, pooped when I pushed up the tail but a little white stuff in it, and the little protuberance is present in the center of the upper vent ??????????????? So, probably 5 hens, 3 wild, 1 pied wild and a golden.

Cocks: One British white, One Tuxedo-pied [bald], 1 Dk. British Range [Manchurian, right?]- bald. 4 wild - 3 smallish, 1 larger and a bit lighter [2 bald, 2 not] & 4 golden, one larger than the others, 1 slightly bald. I am leaning towards keeping the largest Wild and the largest Golden & considering keeping the Manchurian because he has been a favorite since hatched!

Thinking of pairing him with the BW since there is only on, The Goldens together w/one of the Wild hens and the Wild cock w/ the remaining 2 hens. My goal is to have a small self sustaining covey for meat and eggs. I have a split hatch in the 'bator -- 18 eggs in each clutch. These birds are so young that I don't entertain high expectations. I DO know that although I can pair hatch-mates in THIS hatch, I won't be able to use their eggs for hatching again without introducing new blood.


Am anxiously awaiting those of you more expert giving opinions / suggestions / other input/insights!

 

[FireTigeris]

Quote:
Sounds normal for any male.

 

[Stellar]

Quote:
So, It's time to make some decisions!

I need guidance! I have been watching and listening for a bit more than a month now

, getting up to 4 eggs a day so KNOW I have some hens but more males [like 10 or 12!]. I need to decide who to keep for breeding roos

There has been some carnage, some from an unexpected quarter. The other day about half of the birds knocked the [inadequately latched] cage door open and went exploring. Most just went under the cage to scratch, play and bathe in the poo and wasted feed but 4 decided to visit the dogs [2 Paps and a Toy Fox Terrier ---- VERY poor choice in travel plans! ]

. I noticed the terrier's extreme interest in a corner inaccessable to his cage ..... checked out and there huddled a little cock quail

The only remaining evidence was 2 missing quail and a dozen or so feathers in the TFT's bed!

The other thing I have noticed is that more than half the males seem not to be crowing and are picked bald! 9 of the 11 birds in the cage are males. One of the most vociferous roos was the Manchurian, but now he is bald, subdued and doesn't crow any more! I just finished vent-sexing them. I have 4 hens for sure, a 5th wild colored one with a speckled breast, pooped when I pushed up the tail but a little white stuff in it, and the little protuberance is present in the center of the upper vent ??????????????? So, probably 5 hens, 3 wild, 1 pied wild and a golden.

Cocks: One British white, One Tuxedo-pied [bald], 1 Dk. British Range [Manchurian, right?]- bald. 4 wild - 3 smallish, 1 larger and a bit lighter [2 bald, 2 not] & 4 golden, one larger than the others, 1 slightly bald. I am leaning towards keeping the largest Wild and the largest Golden & considering keeping the Manchurian because he has been a favorite since hatched!

Thinking of pairing him with the BW since there is only on, The Goldens together w/one of the Wild hens and the Wild cock w/ the remaining 2 hens. My goal is to have a small self sustaining covey for meat and eggs. I have a split hatch in the 'bator -- 18 eggs in each clutch. These birds are so young that I don't entertain high expectations. I DO know that although I can pair hatch-mates in THIS hatch, I won't be able to use their eggs for hatching again without introducing new blood.


Am anxiously awaiting those of you more expert giving opinions / suggestions / other input/insights!

You may want to look up the colors on my website

But it is a preference. If you are breeding for size, pick the largest girls and place them with a boy. It looks like the boys are being a bit Feisty? The Manchurians are the gold ones, the British Range are the chocolate looking ones.

 

[Flappers]

So I finally tried vent sexing my muscovy again and need your help. Do you think this is male or female? It doesn't really look like either to me, but I am no expert. It is 7 months old. Thanks for the help!