How to determine the sex of a chicken: 10 best methods, differences at different ages
Growing poultry at home is associated with certain nuances. They concern not only compliance with the rules of keeping, but also the characteristics of the bird, age, needs. Those who are going to raise chickens need to understand how to determine the sex of a chicken when buying. The conditions for caring for the bird depend on this, as well as the profit of the subsidiary farm.
Features of determining the sex of a chicken
Poultry farmers have to separate males from females for various reasons. Hens that will lay eggs should be placed in separate conditions as early as possible.At birth, all chicks look alike, so different methods are used to determine the sex of a bird.
How to tell a chicken from a cockerel at different ages
Chickens appear in the poultry farm in one of the following ways:
- after the purchase;
- after incubation by a laying hen;
- after hatching in an incubator.
Each of the options has its own advantages and disadvantages for a particular poultry farm. Owners can determine the sex of chicks at different stages of the chick's growth. Purchasing involves acquiring a chick at a later age, so sex determination methods may vary.
Day age
A chick that has recently hatched from an egg has no pronounced external differences. The signs by which a cockerel can be distinguished from a hen are at the stage of active formation. Day-old chicks are recognized by laboratory, reflex methods.
In addition, there are methods for determining the appearance of the egg, although the error of this method can be high.
Week age
When reaching a week of age, sex determination is associated with an assessment of the size of the bird's body. Cockerels grow bigger than hens. But you should not focus only on size, because each chick can have structural features.
Monthly age
By the end of the first month of life, visual sex determination becomes more reliable. However, it should be taken into account that the error of the visual method is still high.
Month old hens begin to actively fledge, while males remain naked. For them, the growth of the body remains in the first place, and then plumage begins.
Age 2-4 months
At this stage of development, many experienced poultry farmers distinguish the sex of chickens by behavioral reactions. When the poultry farmer tries to get closer to the young, the birds behave differently:
- cockerels scatter to different corners of the paddock, then try to take a better position;
- hens huddle together and huddle together.
Age from 5 months
When this age is reached, distinguishing a hen from a rooster by appearance is quite easy for experienced poultrymen.
| Chickens | Roosters|
| Massive legs with spurs | |
| Massive comb, earrings |
Methods of sex determination
As a rule, several methods are used at once to determine the sex of chickens. If laboratory analysis is not possible, sex is determined by appearance, size and temperature of the eggs.
Fit to size
Chickens differ from roosters in overall size. This becomes noticeable when reaching the age of one month. Day old chicks are difficult to determine by total volumes because many chicks can be born frail and sickly regardless of sex.
On feathers and wings
This method is used on farms, although its reliability ranges from 60 to 80 percent:
- males develop wide flight wings, when examining the wings it becomes noticeable that the feathers that make up the wing are long and frequent;
- hens have short and sparse feathers, this is due to the fact that they do not need a wide stroke, in the future they will be densely covered with fluff.
In addition, the plumage can easily determine the sex of some breeds. For example, female Brahma chickens are distinguished by the fact that black dots are clearly visible on their heads.
The Leggorn and Lebar breeds are known for the fact that the hens after birth have a single-colored plumage, the color of the males is striped. Representatives of the Rhode Island and New Hampshire breeds become motley on the second day of life, clear spots appear on the head, and stripes appear on the back. Males of these breeds remain the same as at birth.
In the Adler silver chicks, sex determination by appearance is particularly simple. The hens turn bright yellow, the males are lemon yellow with a black headband.
By color
Day-old chicks can be distinguished by color. This is due to the characteristics of the breed of birds. At the same time, it is implied that paternal qualities are transmitted to hens, and maternal qualities to cockerels.
This method can give a 100% result if the owner knows exactly who owns the fact of paternity and motherhood.
Ventsexig or Japanese way
This variant of gender determination is successfully used in poultry factories, its reliability reaches 95 percent. The basis of the method is the difference in the structure of roosters and hens. The definition depends on the experience and knowledge of the person who sorts the chicks.
- The chick is picked up and pressed on the stomach, in this way the rectum is released.
- Then they turn him over and examine the cloaca.
A small protrusion can be observed in the cockerel, this is a feature of the sexual structure. Chickens do not have this ledge.
Information! The Japanese method is used in poultry farms in Japan. Specialists sort up to 700 chicks with this method within 1 hour.
Reflex behavioral method
This detection method is often referred to as "grandma's way". The chick is turned upside down. At the same time, the cockerels lower their heads down along the line of the body, and the hens begin to retract their heads.
The reaction is explained by the fact that cockerels are initially set to accept the situation and search for possible scenarios, while hens try to group and protect themselves from possible external influences.
Eggball
Some poultry farmers have learned to determine the sex of the structure of the egg. The basis of the method is that the sharp tip of the egg indicates that it belongs to the male sex. This option is considered the least reliable.
There is a method for determining using an ovoscope. It is turned on, the egg is placed on the surface of the cell, it is translucent. If the air chamber is located strictly in the center, then the egg contains the future cockerel. When the air chamber is tilted to one side, there is a high probability of a chicken appearing.
Warning! Sex recognition by size and other features of the egg is possible only if the eggs are laid by one laying hen.
At the walk
The gait of heterosexual chicks differs in several ways:
- The paws of males are more massive and long, the paws of hens are shorter and more elegant;
- the gait of the hens is rhythmic, the cockerels walk wider.
Gait can also be affected by body size. When they reach the age of one month, the males become larger than the hens, so their step becomes wider.
Scientific methods
There are precise laboratory methods that help to determine the sex with high accuracy. For this, special devices are used, which are rarely used on small poultry farms due to the high cost of analysis.
Cytogenetic method
The basis of the method is to count and study the chromosome set of each chick.This option allows you to confidently determine the sex of the bird on the second day of existence. In males, a variety of one of the chromosomes is represented by the majority, in hens - by a minority. The study lasts from 2 to 4 days. Results can be formulated by technologists who have specialized knowledge.
Information! The cytogenetic method helps to determine the sex with one hundred percent accuracy.
Blood test
To determine the sex, take a blood test from day-old chicks. This analysis is 100 percent reliable, but can be stressful for chicks and costly for owners.
To determine the sex, DNA tests are carried out, which require a certain amount of fresh blood. “Washed” erythrocytes are taken for research.
Folk ways
For a long period, when poultry farming developed independently, before it became a separate branch of agriculture, poultry farmers on the territory of small subsidiary farms learned to use folk methods for determining the sex of a bird.
Among folk methods, there are behavioral methods and methods of determining by external signs:
- On the first day of existence, the plumage of cockerel chicks is lighter than that of hens. It flattens out later.
- If you lift the chick by the scruff, the hens will begin to pull their legs up to the body, group, and the males will look around, looking for the cause of the inconvenience.
- After the age of one month, roosters are determined by their behavior: they are prone to fights and bullying other chicks.
- Gender is recognized by simple touch by the egg. If you can feel the roughness at the pointed end, then you should expect a male.
- According to the observations of experienced farmers, chickens fledge more actively, the feather in the first stages becomes fluffy and silky, unlike cock plumage.
Why determine the sex of chicks
Many aspects of poultry farming depend on sex determination. When buying chickens, poultry farmers are guided by the main directions:
- males are bought to grow for meat;
- hens are chosen to receive eggs, their further sale.
Sometimes the continued existence of a farm depends on sex determination, so choosing the right method of sex determination for poultry farmers becomes one of the main tasks.
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