HOW TO SEX DAY-OLD CHICKS

(Page 5 of 5)

May/June 1974
Beth Bosk 
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Two chicks at a time, one wing in each hand, Lyle spreads out the wing tips with his fingers and reads the code . . . which is just as regular as visual Morse. If the bird is a cockerel, the feather sprouts are all the same length and make a tall, straight bow line. A pullet, in contrast, shows an alternating tall boxshort box pattern.

RELATED CONTENT

THE OCCURRENCE OF WING FEATHERS SORT

Sorting on the basis of sprout patterns is possible only for chicks of specially selected hybrid stock . . . and carefully controlled liaisons aren't characteristic of the casual homestead chicken yard. There is, however, another wing-feather sort that any fumble-fingered back-to-the-lander can employ to sex his own brood. This is the simplest and easiest non-vent system, and also the one that can be used with the widest variety of flocks. Here's how it works:

Any Mediterranean breed rooster (all varieties of Minorca, Leghorn, Spanish, Andalusian, Ancona and Buttercup) let loose with any American breed, Asiatic breed or English Orpington hen (includes all varieties of Plymouth Rock, Wyandotte, Java, Dominique, Rhode Island Red, Rhode Island White, Buckeye, Chantecler, Jersey Black Giant, Lamona, New Hampshire, Brahma, Cochin, Langshan and the Orpingtons) produces pullets that hatch out with their wing feathers well developed and clearly in sight. By the end of the first week, the small female chick even has a squirt of tail. Cockerels hatch out either with no wing feathers or with just a touch of sprout at the tip. You have about a week and a half to make the distinction . . . the rate of feathering evens up after that time.

A NOTE OF THANKS

I've found chicken sexing (even at the novice level) a great convenience in managing my own flock, and I'm glad to have learned the skill . . . especially after two years of searching for a hatchery that would let me watch a professional sorter at work. I'd like to, express my gratitude to Robert Atkins, owner-operator of the A & M Hatchery, Santa Rosa, California 95401. And my deepest appreciation goes to Lyle Scheline, who slowed down long enough to teach me finger by finger.

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