What are the odds...of buying a 'pullet' and not getting one?

[llnmaw]

Just wondering as we are diving back in to chicks....after buying 3 roosters out of 4 chickens this spring. I'm pretty sure we not are up for a big chance on roosters again. It leads to me wonder what are the odds of getting something other than a pullet from the pullet bin? If it matters at all....we are picking the chicks up the same day they are delivered and the chicks are kept in enclosed cages (vs water troughs) so it's a little bit harder for the general public to pick up and put down chicks in the wrong bin. Not that it cannot/does not happen, just lessens the possibility I guess.

Also, did the majority of you posting under this topic buy straight run? Hatch your own?

I bought 3 pullets and 1 straight run. I feel a little gun shy.......

I'm drawn to the SLW and the feed store gal said that all the chicks are sexed except the banty and cornish x. So, if I'm armed with tons of pictures, is it likely I could pick out pullets? Will I be biting my nails for the next 11 weeks making myself crazy? My other option is get Red sex links, while from what I understand it's pretty well a given that I'm getting what I think I'm getting, I don't 'love' the look of them like the SLW. But I'd be pretty much assured we would come home with pullets, assuming I know what a pullet looks like. Right?

All this rambling......

How/why did you wind up questioning the gender of your chick? Can I hedge my bets a little with SLW by looking for something in particular?

~L

 

[acrossthebranch]

I don't think there is any way to tell for especially a SLW at 2-3 days old. I have had really good luck with buying pullets. I bought 3 SLW last year and all were pullets. Out of the 8 total chicks I got, one turned out to be a rooster. I've heard 10% is a good number of roos to expect out of a batch of "pullets" but it may have to do with the hatchery too. Mine all came from a hatchery through a local feed store, and he said that they had been sexed really well. In fact, one person bought 25 pullets thinking he'd get at least one roo and didn't.

I've heard that the straight runs from TSC and places like that are usually mostly roos. I bought two this year because they were pretty chicks, and they are both roos. I bought 19 others (varying breeds) that were labeled pullets, and I do believe that they all are pullets.

Don't get discouraged; I would hope that ratio wouldn't happen to you again!

 

[ThompsonFunnyFarm12]

It depends on where they came from. If you special order from a feed store such as TCS than they shouldn't be less than %99 sure that they are selling you pullets as they charge extra to sex them. However, if you get them from a 'bin' at one of these stores there's always the possibility of them getting mixed up. I purchased all 20 of my chicks from the bins there, they are now all happy healthy and I ended up with only two roos so I'm very happy.

 

[One Grey]

The local feed store where we bought our chicks said 95% certainty for their sexed chicks, but we have one that's looking to be a rooster and in fact I'm trying to build enough posts to be able to put up pictures and ask the experts here, so we may have been unlucky (we wanted all hens).

 

[misslady]

I heard that they are sexed correctly about 90% of the time.

Don't know if you'd be interested in them, but I believe you can tell the sex of a Welsummer just by looking at their coloring somehow. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[F106A]

A month and a half ago I bought 6 barred rocks from one TSC, and got 6 out of 6 pullets. An hour later I hit another TSC, and bought 6 assorted pullets. 2 out of the 6 are roos, but one of them is still a mystery. It's a buff "something" -- maybe an Orp, maybe a Rock, and is the biggest 7-week old I've ever seen. It's comb is either a rose, or a pea, and although it looks just like the others. Two weeks later I got another 6. That time they were assorted red pullets. So far so good! Of course I didn't find out the sex of any of them until a couple weeks ago.

Roughly 11% roos from TSC! I haven't been able to find a home for them, so now I just have to decide on a couple recipes! That's one of the reasons I bought chickens anyway.

Mark

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Assuming tht the birds did not get mixed in the bins, the accuracy depends on the hatchery. Different hatcheries guarantee an accuracy ranging from 90-97% (there could be others percentages that do not fall on that scale, but I am basing the numbers upon the hatcheries with which I am familiar).

If a customer purchases a pullet and it turns out to be a cockerel, they complain to the store. Too many of those complaints, and the store complains to the hatchery, and may look to move their business elsewhere.

If the store has any straight run chicks at the same time as you purchase pullets, the chances of getting cockerels are probably a bit higher--Based upon them getting mixed in the bins. If only pullets, you may get the wrong breed, but chances of it being a pullet remain the same.

 

[llnmaw]

Thanks for your experiences/ideas even if anecdotal!

And now......I'm a bit of a nervous Nelly as we have 2 new chicks! I'm absolutely confused on the whole Sex Link thing. Do different hatcheries call the various colored sex links by different names?

Either way we got 2 Golden Sex links....will post photos tomorrow, but man I hope they are girls! I was going after Red Sex links but there were none......

I'm on pins and needles I tell you............. pins and needles!!

~L.

 

[chickschool]

My feeling is that unless you order from a reputable hatchery you are rolling the dice. I've tried the feed stores and even thought it said pullet you will end up with some roos. However when I've ordered I've had way more success. Good luck.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Feed stores purchase (usually) from hatcheries. Whether they order strainght run or sexed birds is up to them. The method they house their chicks (including the amount of unassisted customer access) determines the liklihood or not of chicks getting put into incorrect bins. Also, with some breeds, experienced people can get a clue as to gender, and are more likey to select pullets, so the longer the chicks are there, the more they will be picked over, and the more likely it will be that cockerels will be the last ones left.