Why I hate ordering straight run.....

[TattooQ27]

I ordered 33 ducklings in the beginning of February, 18 from one hatchery and 15 from another...all straight run. The hatchery I ordered 15 from shorted me one and another was DOA. The hatchery we ordered 18 from sent an extra, woot! So we ended up with 32 total...not too bad.

We ordered:

Hatchery 1

8 Anconas and got 1 as a bonus for a total of 9
5 Cayugas
5 Khaki Campbells

Hatchery 2

10 Mixed Swedish, one was DOA for a total of 9
5 Buff Orpintons, shorted one for a total of 4


We were hoping to keep 5 females, one of each breed and then 1 or 2 males which is why we ordered several of each breed since they weren't able to be sexed at the hatchery.

On to my point, I just got done vent sexing them and we ended up with 12 females and 20 males. Of the females we only got 1 Cayuga and we didn't get any Buff Orpingtons (big bummer!). I wish every hatchery offered vent sexing even if they did charge more. I would have happily paid to get mostly females so I could have had my pick from several instead of having only 1 to pick or in the case of the BO's, none.

Either way, all the ducklings are adorable and other than the one DOA they all seem super healthy so I can't complain too much, just wish I had more females to chose from. Maybe next time.

 

[Germaine_11.20]

It is my guess that the hatcherys know who is male and female and purposefully put in more males on a straight run to get rid of them.

I have watched the ladies at the hatchery out here sex the birds before putting them in my box. They don't know that I know what they are doing but why else are they going to spread the wings on the chicks?

 

[TattooQ27]

Quote:
Yeah, I bet you are right. How annoying and what a big waste of money for the buyers.

 

[WestKnollAmy]

I hope I have all girls coming form the hatchery I ordered mine from. That should be next month when I receive them. They are supposed to be sexed but I have wound up with boys before.
I ordered 3 Cayugas, 4 Runners, 4 Khaki Campbells and 4 Magpie.
Still gotta build their pen and coop but the brooder stuff is ready.

 

[rainplace]

I would guess that if a hatchery only offers straight run then they don't vent sex them prior to shipping since there would be no point. I will only buy straight run ducklings from hatcheries that only sell straight run from here on out since I am unsure what happens to excess drakelets, and I don't want to know. I think I would rather grow them out and eat them or sell them for eating knowing they had a good life.

 

[CityChicker]

Now, if a hatchery doesn't sell by the sex, why in the world would they sex them and just give more males (and yet, not sell them sexed)? That makes no sense. If they don't sell them sexed, it is simply because they CAN'T sex them. Hatcheries are all about making the most money they can. They are not going to just not offer a service they can provide, especially something so frequently requested.

I wouldn't be surprised though if the hatcheries that do sell sexed sometimes don't put the extra males back in the "straight run". I am sure they would deny it, but I bet they do. I think most of them that don't sell sexed duckling though simply don't know how to sex them. They are simply hard to sex and being a sexor is something a person has to really have a natural talent for. I have raised ducks for many, many years and think I am fairly knowledgeable and yet, I couldn't sex a duckling to save my life, LOL.

 

[Bleenie]

What was hatchery #1?...just in case i wanna order some babies

 

[tomzr2]

I ordered 15 female ducklings from Cackle Hatchery. They sent an extra and all are living and very healthy at 3 weeks old.

 

[TattooQ27]

Quote:
The 18 I ordered that are doing well were from Cackle. I did lose one Ancona but they sent an extra so I am not upset with them. I have now lost 3 of the ducklings I ordered from the other hatchery and I am upset because they shorted me one to begin with. I am going to write to them because I just don't think it's right. Also, they offer sexed or straight run. I ordered straight run to save a few dollars and I ended up with 10 males and 4 females. I am having a tough time believing that it was random. If they didn't offer sexing I might believe it was coincidental but they do and I feel like they offloaded their males onto me since I ordered straight run. I have heard great things about this hatchery so I am crossing my fingers that they will at least apologize for shorting me but who knows....it won't give me the ducklings I wanted or the money I have lost but it will still make me feel at least a little better.

 

[CityChicker]

I am so confused now because in your first post you said, "I wish every hatchery offered vent sexing even if they did charge more. I would have happily paid to get mostly females so I could have had my pick from several instead of having only 1 to pick or in the case of the BO's, none."

Now, you are saying they *did* offer sexing, but you ordered straight run to save a few dollars. Unfortunately, you get what you get with straight run. Also unfortunate, they may *have* unloaded some extra males on you (don't know how you would prove it though). I'm sorry you had that experience, but if you want females and have the option to get them sexed, you should always do that, especially if you are ordering as few as 5 per breed. Over dozens of birds, the sex ratio evens out to closer to 50/50, but there is no guarantee when you are talking about a few birds. You are really taking a gamble when you order low numbers like that.

Also, are you absolutely sure of your ability to sex them? You were definitely able to see the penises when you sexed them?