Wing sexing?

[Grampascarlett]

I'm just wondering about wing sexing light Brahma chicks does it work and how is it done?

 

[Thespeckledchick]

This should explain it.

 

[Amer]

Wing sexing only works when you have hatchery chicks that are crossed specifically for wing sexing. Without this, it's close to useless. So if you breed them yourself, chances are it won't work.

 

[The Moonshiner]

No wing sexing doesn't work with brahmas. In fact it doesn't work with any "breed".
It only works with hybrids where a fast feathering rooster is bred to a slow feathering hen.

 

[Thespeckledchick]

I have walked into a feed store and sexed wyandottes before... but I must have just been lucky.

 

[sylviethecochin]

Wing sexing only works when you have hatchery chicks that are crossed specifically for wing sexing. Without this, it's close to useless. So if you breed them yourself, chances are it won't work.

x2.

Also, it can work in flocks that are specifically bred for it. Males have two copies of the slow (or fast) feathering gene, but because it is a sexlinked gene, females can only have one copy. In the case of feathering speed, two genes are often stronger than one (double-factor) and so if the flock is fast-feathering, the male chicks will have two copies of the fast-feathering gene. The females will only have one, so the males will get their feathers before the females do.

EDT: And it's still less reliable than with hybrids.

Unfortunately, hatchery flocks are almost never bred for this (EDT: Homozygous, SOP feathering speed), and breeders often have more important concerns than how their flock is supposed to feather out. Also, it's controlled by more than one gene, so the breeder has to know what he's doing if he even tries to breed for it.

That was my unneeded trivia for the day. Good night!

 

[Amer]

I have walked into a feed store and sexed wyandottes before... but I must have just been lucky.

The cross can be within a breed, but you have to cross a fast feathering Wyandotte with a slow feathering one.

 

[Amer]

x2.

Also, it can work in flocks that are specifically bred for it. Males have two copies of the slow (or fast) feathering gene, but because it is a sexlinked gene, females can only have one copy. In the case of feathering speed, two genes are often stronger than one (double-factor) and so if the flock is fast-feathering, the male chicks will have two copies of the fast-feathering gene. The females will only have one, so the males will get their feathers before the females do.

Unfortunately, hatchery flocks are almost never bred for this, and breeders often have more important concerns than how their flock is supposed to feather out. Also, it's controlled by more than one gene, so the breeder has to know what he's doing if he even tries to breed for it.

That was my unneeded trivia for the day. Good night!

Hatcheries sometimes use it instead of vent sexing nowadays.

 

[The Moonshiner]

I have walked into a feed store and sexed wyandottes before... but I must have just been lucky.

Its not hard to get lucky when its a 50/50 chance of getting it right. Especially when guessing on only a handful. Same odds as winning a coin toss.
I often hear people swear they can do it with almost perfect accuracy. Funny none stop by on my hatch days to help me out though.

 

[sylviethecochin]

Hatcheries actually use it instead of vent sexing nowadays.

Cool!

Still, if you look up breeds, a lot of them have standards for how they're supposed to feather out. So the hatchery still isn't using a to-standard rooster if they're using, for example, a fast-feathering Barred Rock.