Sexing Eggs Before Incubation Does This Method Really Work?

[BroodMistress]

Hello everyone,

I recently came across an old booklet by Thomas Quisenberry that discusses a method for determining the sex of a chick before incubation by candling the eggs. The process involves examining the air sacs position before setting the eggs. According to the booklet, if the air sac is slightly off-center and only visible from the front and sides of the egg, the chick will be female. If the air sac is centered in the end of the egg and visible from all angles, the chick will be male.

This method was reportedly shared by Mrs. Noda Fry, who hatched 96 eggs using this technique and claimed that 92 of them were female. If this is accurate, thats an impressive success rate! Supposedly, this method was even backed by a university study at the time, though I couldnt find details on that.

Additionally, the booklet describes another technique for sexing newly hatched chicks by holding them gently by the head. If the chicks legs dangle loosely, it is supposedly a male, but if the legs tuck up toward the body, it is said to be a female.

Im about to set a couple dozen eggs in the incubator and decided to try this method myself. I candled each egg beforehand following these guidelines, marking my predictions. Now, I just have to wait and see!

Has anyone else experimented with this? Do you think theres any science behind it, or is it just another old poultry myth? Id love to hear from others who may have tried this or know of similar methods.

[CompostChampion]

I've incubated hundreds of eggs, and air sac position has never seemed to correlate with sex. But I'll be following your results because I'd love to be proven wrong!

[HatcheryHiker]

I've tried a similar method before, but I didn't track the results closely. Maybe I'll give it another go with proper record-keeping!

[EggHatchHobbyist]

I'm skeptical. If it really worked, hatcheries would be using it to guarantee sexed chicks before incubation. Still, I love experiments like this,let us know how it turns out!

[EggsAndGiggles]

I've never heard of this before, but now I'm super curious! I don't think it would be foolproof, but if it gives even a slight advantage, it would be worth trying.

[GoldenYolkGuy]

I think this falls into the category of “too good to be true.” If it were reliable, commercial hatcheries would already be using it.

[CluckyMcNugget]

Sounds fascinating! I've always been told you can't sex an egg before hatching, but maybe there's some truth to this? I might try it on my next hatch just for fun.

[Eggspresso]

The chick-holding method is new to me! I might test it on my next batch of chicks just to see if there's any consistency.

[CoopAlchemist]

I'd be cautious about old studies unless they have modern verification. But experimenting is the best way to find out! Keep us posted on your hatch.

[ChickenChick]

Hello everyone,

I recently came across an old booklet by Thomas Quisenberry that discusses a method for determining the sex of a chick before incubation by candling the eggs. The process involves examining the air sacs position before setting the eggs. According to the booklet, if the air sac is slightly off-center and only visible from the front and sides of the egg, the chick will be female. If the air sac is centered in the end of the egg and visible from all angles, the chick will be male.

This method was reportedly shared by Mrs. Noda Fry, who hatched 96 eggs using this technique and claimed that 92 of them were female. If this is accurate, thats an impressive success rate! Supposedly, this method was even backed by a university study at the time, though I couldnt find details on that.

Additionally, the booklet describes another technique for sexing newly hatched chicks by holding them gently by the head. If the chicks legs dangle loosely, it is supposedly a male, but if the legs tuck up toward the body, it is said to be a female.

Im about to set a couple dozen eggs in the incubator and decided to try this method myself. I candled each egg beforehand following these guidelines, marking my predictions. Now, I just have to wait and see!

Has anyone else experimented with this? Do you think theres any science behind it, or is it just another old poultry myth? Id love to hear from others who may have tried this or know of similar methods.

I've heard of this method before but never tried it myself. I'd be really interested to see your hatch results! Please update when they start hatching.