Vent sexing day old chicks

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Well I currently have 5 yellow babies which are either Buff Orps or a mix Buff Orp/RIR. I have 1 beautiful Brahama baby. So I thought I'd try my hand at vent sexing, very gently of course.

Some I could get no response from, but about 3 I got what looked like a bubble. Kind of like the stress balls you squeeze and the eyes pop out big and round.. Does anyone have any idea what this is a sign of, male of female? I saw nothing that looked like "male parts".

Thanks

-- Devera Morgan (anatida@worldnet.att.net), February 01, 2002

Answers

can you see ,, "the male parts" of a full grown rooster?

-- Stan (sopal@net-port.com), February 01, 2002.

Good question. :-)

I haven't looked at a rooster, but I can see "the male parts" of a full grown drake.

-- Devera Morgan (anatida@worldnet.att.net), February 01, 2002.


this borders on old-wives tale but has been surprisingly accurate in my experience. pick the chick up (gently of course) by the feet and observe. girls cease struggling almost immediately - boys give it a real go at getting loose. can't remember where I read this but I suspect it might have been a magazine called Countryside. not sure this will work with day-olds. have never thought to try it at the time what with all the fluffy excitement and all.

-- B. Lackie - Zone3 (cwrench@hotmail.com), February 01, 2002.

forgot the all important "...pick up by the feet and hold upsidedown" part. sarr

-- B. Lackie - Zone3 (cwrench@hotmail.com), February 01, 2002.

I did read in Countryside about sexing by blowing on the vent and observing for either oval shape(female) or round (male). Also the same article said that (as mentioned above) that you hold on to the chick, (the article said gently by the neck), and the fighters are the males and the females will fight for a few seconds, then go limp.

-- Pam in Oregon (pamalimabean@hotmail.com), February 01, 2002.


I actually tried the holding up by the neck. *giggle* I read it in another post here on countryside.

I get the same results with all of the yellow chicks (1 male 2 females when I did it), but the Brahma was male first then female. Guess I'll just wait 4 weeks or so and watch the feathers.

-- Devera Morgan (anatida@worldnet.att.net), February 01, 2002.


what brought this to mind was the process of transferring brooder chicks to the general population this week. I carried the birds by the feet upside down to calm them during the switch. all of the newbies can be sexed visually now but they reacted as predicted by sex. cockerels put up a fight and the pullets didn't. I'm sure Pam is right about the article and that I mangled the memory but it seems to work via the feet too. might be worth a try and less worrisome than neck grabbing day old chicks. unless of course you like that sort of thing. congratulations on the hatch.

-- B. Lackie - Zone3 (cwrench@hotmail.com), February 01, 2002.

According to one source: The copulatory organ of chickens can be identified as male or female by shape, but there are over fifteen different different shapes to consider.

-- BC (desertdweller44@yahoo.com), February 02, 2002.

Devera,

I always thought that in the hatcheries they checked the wing "feathers" of newly hatched chicks to determine sex. Even was one sex uneven was another. They are about 99% accurate. I don't remember where I heard this might have been my grandma because it seems I've always known. Linda

-- Linda (jlsam@ccrtc.com), February 02, 2002.


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