Author Topic: sexing commercial birds (Read 3503 times)

duckface3 · « **on:** January 24, 2012, 12:16:59 pm »

i understand in the laying birds a gold cock(s+/s+) is mated to a silver hen (S/-) to give chicks that are silver/gold males and gold females and can be sexed on hatching so the males can be culled straight away.
how do they sex table birds? if the chickens in supermarkets are white feathered so not to have any coloured pin feathers are they all silver or dominant white (I) or recessive white (c/c)? anyway i look at it i don't know how they can sex them so they can be grown on seperatley

Eggs, Chicks & Hens · « **Reply #1 on:** January 24, 2012, 12:30:40 pm »

They will probably vent sex them, its hard to do if yer dont know what yer doing

hughesy · « **Reply #2 on:** January 24, 2012, 06:47:52 pm »

Do they need to sex table birds? They're in the oven long before they reach any kind of maturity.

DJ_Chook · « **Reply #3 on:** January 24, 2012, 08:48:30 pm »

The day old cobb ross meat birds that I buy are wing sexed. I've bought them as unsexed and sexed, they charge more for the boys as they are quicker to put the weight on.

They even have different breeds of meat birds for different end products. Birds that grow larger legs and thighs quicker than the breast. Birds that grow a well developed mini fillet with thinner connective tissue so that during processing they are easier to remove.

Considering what they have breed I am surprised they are still wing sexing them. Some other commercial breeds have been bred so that the male chick has a black spot on its head.

duckface3 · « **Reply #4 on:** January 24, 2012, 09:14:10 pm »

i did read that the sexes are reared seperately becos of the differant rate of growth

cluckingnuts · « **Reply #5 on:** January 25, 2012, 06:47:21 am »

There is a way of producing a sex-able white chick that does not involve wing feathe/vent sexing.
Unfortunately from the selection of pure breeds, which genes to breed into the sire or dam line, what to select for in each generation to create it is patented.
I shall err on the side of caution and say that you have mentioned 2 [ of several ] genes are in the sire line, and 2 [of several ] in the dam line, and they are not they same ones.

duckface3 · « **Reply #6 on:** January 28, 2012, 02:40:02 pm »

sooooo...wud i be right in thinking it is 1) gold cock 2) silver hen to give the sex link?
if gold is recessive to silver is 3) the cock line recessive white 4) hen line dominant white?
5)can i guess again?

Victorian Farmer · « **Reply #7 on:** January 28, 2012, 05:21:39 pm »

Best bet light sussex high bred to road island red white chicks cocks brown chicks hens good all round.light sussex hatching eggsBest bet light sussex high bred to road island red white chicks cocks brown chicks hens good all round.type in light sussex in e bay you will see eggs and chicks.

BlueDaisy · « **Reply #8 on:** January 28, 2012, 11:22:44 pm »

They don't have to sex meat birds, they are so quick growing it doesn't matter if they are male or female.
I've a couple of hubbard females that I wouldn't let hubby cull, and they are at least 5 kgs. The males were about 2.5 - 3.5 kgs dressed weight at 12 -16 weeks.

bigchicken · « **Reply #9 on:** January 29, 2012, 01:06:16 am »

I worked and was connected to the commercial poultry industry for a few years and no sexing of birds for final line meat birds. Birds culled at six weeks. When pedigree breeding birds were hatched they were vent sexed at the hatchery by experts who's only job was sexing chicks.