HOW TO SEX DAY-OLD CHICKS
(Page 2 of 5)
With his left hand Lyle scoops up a chick, catching-its neck between his middle and ring fingers and its legs between his ring finger and pinky. In one swoop the ball of fuzz is perfectly balanced and duck-tailed rump up (see Fig. 1).
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In chickens—as in other birds-the intestinal and genitourinary tracts both empty into a common cavity known as the cloaca. Before this area can be examined, the chick has to be evacuated (rid of the blob of umbilical dinner that remains in its lower intestine). Lyle holds the baby toward the milk carton and squeezes its lower abdomen once with his left thumb. A small amount of feces squirts into the container, and Scheline finishes the job quickly before another mess erupts (Fig. 2).
The chick—still held in the same grasp—is raised close to Lyle's face, and his left thumb presses the left edge of the vent up and over so that the interior border is turned toward the bird's neck and secured in that position. A fraction of a second later, Scheline's right thumb and first finger spread apart the other half of the orifice (Fig. 3). The margin is folded down toward the abdomen and held there with a firm pinch. The aperture is then fully open (wide from back to belly, narrower thigh to thigh) and it's possible to peer inside. Some sorters use the right index finger to test the tissues for elasticity. Lyle, however, depends entirely on making a visual check with his eyes.
Vent sexing is based on the fact that the hatchling cockerel has a rudimentary sex organ called the "male process" . . . a very small, glossy, transparent bulb that protrudes from amid the second of three cloacal folds inside the cavity. The structure is independent of the surrounding tissues and pokes out almost as far as the vent opening when the border is pushed down far enough for examination. If you're not farsighted, you can see the process with the naked eye. In contrast, the typical female chick has a shallow depression—or just a trace of swelling—at the same site (Fig. 4).
So far, so good ... but here's the catch: One day-old cockerel out of five isn't so distinctly characterized. He has a smaller bulb, a flat bulb, a bulb that protrudes downward instead of up or a grooved bulb that looks more like a fold than a male process.
More confusing still, 40% of day-old pullets have organs that resemble those of the males. This happens because embryos of both sexes start out with male-like bumps. In the majority of females, the process begins to shrink by the second week of incubation and has vanished by hatching time. Not so, however, with two pullets out of five. Their lingering protuberances are usually smaller than cockerels', but are sometimes as large as the average male bulb.
As the female grows older, the process mill continue to regress . . . just as the questionable male organ will extend and grow larger. But you can't wait more than a day or two to vent sex a chick. It has to be done before the youngster eats and thus distends its lower alimentary tract.
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