Sexing Chicks

[Fire-Man]

I was at Tractor Supply a couple days ago and a man was buying some chicks. His Daughter would pick up one chick at a time and he would hold a lightly weighted thread over the chicks head and according to which way the thread would start swinging determined if it was a male or female. Anyone ever heard of this? I did not question to which way was for male or female.
People use to do something similiar to this WAY back to determine what sex of children a woman would have and I remember it being pretty accurate.

[copperkid3]

I've heard of it . . . but certainly don't put any stock in it.

Guess if you'd asked the man what scientific principle

this was based on, it might have proved embarassing.

[uncle Will in In.]

Either start with sex link chickens or wait until the chicks are big enough to run fast.. At that time reach down and try to grab one .. If he runs it's a rooster.. If she don't run it's a pullet..

[SteveD(TX)]

I wouldn't google this.

[ninny]

Saw a show on T.V. where chicks were being sexed. The women doing the checking would look at certain feathers on the chicks wing to determine the sex of the chick.

Here's a youtube video on this method....

YouTube

.

[arabian knight]

Here is another way.
This was Mike Rowe on Dirty Jobs. LOL

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1tmEO9xRqvo

[Awnry Abe]

I think the string method has as much science as my "the ones with a John Wayne-like swagger are roosters" method. There are some good physiological indicators. Learning to read the subtle differences just takes practice. I am still a little spotty (i.e. I guess wrong a bit), but my DD can sort a pile in short order with pretty good accuracy. She just knows that we get to eat her mistakes.

[starjj]

LOL sounds like a bunch of hooie to me. My boss told me today that when they get their feathers a roosters tail feathers will stick up straight in the back and a hen's will go straight out. This DOES NOT work on chicks as I pointed this out to her.

[Michael W. Smith]

My Mother used to claim about this too or for hatching eggs. A thread with a little weight on it. You hold it over top of the chick or the egg and if it goes in circles, it's a female, if it swings back and forth, it's a male.

If I remember correctly, I had her do my hatching eggs so I didn't get too many roosters. In fact, I wanted all females. If memory serves right, 50% were females and 50% were males - so . . . . . . it didn't seem to work!

In my Tractor Supply, they have the chicks all cordoned off and if you want chicks - you have to ask a TS worker to help you and they will get into the fenced off area and you tell them which chick to grab - or how many of what you want.

Too bad they didn't have a sex link pullets there. You could have gotten some chicks and said to the man - can you sex these chicks? I don't want any roosters? I'm guessing some of those sex link pullets would be "roosters" to him.

[luvrulz]

My husband thinks this works like a charm....but guess again! He tried it for the hatching eggs and we ended up butchering 39 roosters to 22 hens. No, it doesn't work.

[Delinda]

I run and own a local hatchery here in southeast Tn, hatching out thousands of chicks. I sell all of my chicks straight run. Believe me over the years I have seen it all on "how to sex the chicks" Swinging the gold necklace over them, holding them by the neck to see which way the legs kick. laying them on their back to see which way the legs kick, feather sexing, looking at their head to see which one looks "girly", etc..... I just let people try what they want, when they come back I ask them how their sexing works, everybody says-" well, I got about 50/50. Vent sexing is the only way to really tell in my opinion, and you have to know what you are doing!

[Fodderfeed]

I dont think hatcheries know how to sex even 50 percent I ordered 100 cornish rock roosters after 12 weeks there was only 5 roos! Never again will I pay extra for cornish roos! Live and learn............

[LittleRedHen]

My friend swears by it lol I don't. I feather sex based on the wing lengths. Males and females are different. It has worked 99% for me