Who else has experienced a terrible ratio with a straightrun . . . .

[TroutsChicks]

I got 16 from poultry hollow.org and so far i only have 3 maybe roos..but not 100% sure at all!! you think at 10 weeks i would know!!

 

[IDaho ChickieMom]

While driving thru unfamiliar heavy traffic yesterday, I got a call on my cell. Expecting my husband's daughter to call (I was running late from visiting a 90 yr old friend and getting feed), I answered. Imagine my surprise to have a neighbor call. She wants to do a deal (I really need to get another bluetooth for my phone!), so I let her talk.

Seems she and a friend went to the local livestock store and got 44 day old chicks and now they are 4 mths old. ALL 44 are roosters!

So, I will trade 3 of my pullets for roosters to put in the freezer.

I've selected from the straight run tub at a different farm and ranch store. The people all know me so let me pick them up to select. Last year I selected 10 of 10 pullets. They were actually 1 day old. This year they were 8 days old and only got 8 pullets out of 12. Still not too bad. Now I'm waiting to see what the 6 hatched chicks turn out to be. I'm thinking 4 pullets and 2 cockerels....but not exactly sure.

But 44 roosters!!

Oh My!!
Laura

 

[Mtn Margie]

Quote:

Boy, you scored big! I'm getting straight run meaties; wonder what the odds will be?

 

[Rocky Road]

44 Roosters . .. . I think I would cry . . . hahah

Ps. You are a great friend!!

 

[tball]

i watched a "dirty job" episode were mike went to a hatchery and learned all that. They showed how you can look at fethers, i looked at mine the day after i picked them up, and i think the feather thing might work. Pullets have i think every other wing tip stagered and roos are even!

Now i have never hatched any but my husband says growing up his parents said you could tell by the shape of the "egg" pointed means male ,rounded means hen!

 

[chickn]

mcmurrys i ordered 15 blrw straight run got 6 pullets.

 

[LilJeffy]

I must be getting lucky... I had my first hatch 2 years ago (using a broody bantam hen) and I've never hatched a roo. I have 7 chicks at 4 weeks old right now, and all are looking to be hens. I had 5 hatch last year, but gave them away. Apparently their cat killed them all before I ever knew what sex they turned out to be. If I knew they didn't care enough to keep them alive I wouldn't have tried to be nice and give them laying hens

 

[tellynpeep]

This is my third year in a row hatching Marans from purchased eggs. Every chick hatched has turned out to be a cockerel! For THREE straight years! I've decided maybe this is not the breed for me (the gender gods have spoken....)

 

[newlyweds]

I hatch alot, and on average I usually get about 50/50,
but my last hatch of 15 chicks I only have 4 pullets!! At least I have a good choice with which breeding rooster to keep.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I ordered 6 straight run Buff Orps and got 7 pullets. Even the packing peanut was a pullet. I've had hatches where 2/3 were pullets and hatches where 2/3 were roosters. I've had hatches that were 50-50. Straight run is the luck of the draw. I actually prefer roosters since I eat a lot more than I keep as laying hens.

Some people are pretty good at picking out pullets from the straight run bin at the feed stores. That stacks the odds against other people, so they think the stores or hatcheries are dishonest when they are not. You have to blame somebody and the feed stores or hatcheries are good targets.

Some people are more ethical than others. Some hatcheries, since they are run by people, are probably more ethical than others. For some, straight run means straight run. For others, well maybe not. But I don't order enough from any hatchery to have a statistically relevent sample. I'll not bad-mouth a hatchery for one order any more than I will say that since one hatch was 2/3 pullets all of them will be. That would be ridiculous.

44 roosters out of 44 straight run chicks is theoretically possible but it just ain't going to happen in real life. Whether they realized it or not, somebody was selling sexed chicks.