[Q]

Out of a recent hatch of 5 light sussex birds I thought I was unlucky with what looked like 3 cockerels to 2 hens.  A few weeks on and its 4 cockerels and a single hen.
The hatch after that only gave me 3 birds which is looking like 2 hens and 1 cockerel to even things up a bit but 4 to 1 in a single hatch is not fair!   

[bloomer]

i hatched 5 marans last year i got 5 boys!!!

[Q]

Bloomer , I bow to your superior bad luck!   

[bloomer]

oh and it was our first ever hatch so we tried hard to rehome them, only 2 made it to the freezer :-)


this year we have hatched under a broody 1 hatched 3 eggs 90% sure 2 are boys...


the other still remains on her eggs with a week to go, i'll report back if i get any girls!!!

[HesterF]

I was feeling nicely smug - I'm reasonably sure my first hatch of the year (six gold laced Orps) is two cockerels, four hens. Then I hatched nine buff Orps and they're still only little so hard to sex but I think I've got seven out of nine cockerels. One problem is they take so long before they're big enough to eat whereas if I can sell them, I can clear them a lot quicker!

H

[Mammyshaz]

Looking at other people's cockerel:hen ratio last year we decided it wasn't wornt hatching less than a dozen. First ever hatech of 12 last year gave us 5,  2 hens and 3 cockerels. This year we went for 12 again but were given 17 just to make sure. 11 hatched      but looks like 4 hens and 7 cockerels.
It's just the luck of the draw.

[Womble]

I see your bad luck, and raise you 9 cockerels out of 11 chicks last year, and 12 turkey hens out of 12 when what we really wanted were stags! 

It is the luck of the draw though. The year before we hatched four ducks and one drake.

[Q]

I see your bad luck, and raise you 9 cockerels out of 11 chicks last year, and 12 turkey hens out of 12 when what we really wanted were stags! 

It is the luck of the draw though. The year before we hatched four ducks and one drake.

Ok I give in, I am not even in second or third place in this odd inverse competition!

I wounder if there are any factors that affect the sex of the birds during hatching?  I do remember from somewhere that cold weather gives cockerels but that cant be true if they are in an incubator.

[Anke]

I felt really smug that my first hatch this year was 20 out of 24 eggs - so cockerel is doing his job (unfortunately it's not the one I got from bloomer, he's probably NOT doing his job... ). All 20 chicks still there - except it looks like 14 (FOURTEEN!) cockerels.... now that's a lot of coq-au-vin some the autumn...

[bloomer]

dang sorry for blank firing cockerel, he was a handsome dude as well!!!

[Victorian Farmer]

hens older than 12 months will give more hens .....my best sex link 19 hens 1 cock then 500 eggs went in 320 cock birds .youv got to start sex linc cuckoo marran /black marran   road bared rock and road sussex or cream legbar sext at birth . So im looking for dark cuckoo marran cock dark egg strain and black marran split you will get blue splash and black whith a gold neck                          http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/12-Maran-Hatching-Eggs-Sex-link-Large-Fowl-/111352294569?pt=UK_Pet_Supplies_Poultry&hash=item19ed1d2ca9

[Anke]

dang sorry for blank firing cockerel, he was a handsome dude as well!!!

I don't know if he's firing blanks, it's more he isn't firing anything as he hasn't got the hang of getting onto the hens... they either outrun him or just won't stand still for him... I have watched him for a while now, but once the incubator is empty (goose eggs due next week - 1st one is pipping!) I will put in 6 eggs to try and see if they are fertile before he's dispatched. The problem is just I cannot risk a low hatch rate, as I just don't have enough houses to accommodate small groups of chicks of different ages...

He is good looking though I have to admit!

[Stereo]

Our first hatch was 15 out of 24. I think we have about 5 hens with a few doubtfuls but I think they are boys. At least they are Marans so the boys are decent for meat. Second hatch I've done Ixworths and while I would like to build a flock, I'm quite happy if they are all boys to be honest. We have decided to go for all dual purpose breeds for our own hatching from now on. I am not keen on wasteful culling but don't want to waste my time rearing leghorn boys like we did last year. The meat was superb but there was very little of it.

[suziequeue]

 

[Anke]

Oh we eat the boys no problem, but I normally wait until they become a bit of nuisance with starting to crow, but not sure how I (and the towny neighbours) will cope with 14... crowing at 4am....