How can the gender of a chicken be determined?
Every poultry breeder should know how to determine the sex of a chicken. It is quite problematic to distinguish between females and males by external parameters, but this is perhaps the most important point in breeding. There are several accurate methods that help clarify the issue early on. In this article we will try to figure out whether it is really possible to determine the sex of chickens and how easy it is.
How to determine the gender of a chicken
Proven methods
People who have worked in poultry farms all their lives know how to accurately determine the gender of a chicken. However, there are ways that farmers who are inexperienced in these matters can also use them. For example, back in the first half of the 20th century, Vensexig was used in Japan. The essence of the method is to study the cloaca. This method of determining the sex of a chicken is widely used by the world community.
When using this technique, it is possible to injure the cloaca or infect the chicks with an infection, therefore, its implementation requires a particularly careful attitude and accuracy of execution. The instructions on how to determine the sex of a chicken indicate that Vensexig is carried out in the first 6-15 hours after the chicks are born. It will be almost impossible to determine the sex of the chicken at a later date, because after 15 hours, the sexual characteristics gradually smoothed out. How to distinguish chickens by sex using the Vensexig method:
- assess the health of the chick;
- cleanse the rectum from feces, for which, firmly taking the chick, press the abdomen from both sides with gentle massage movements;
- turn the chick over and place its legs between the ring finger and the little finger of your right hand;
- do not squeeze the chicken too hard, otherwise it may get a painful shock;
- after the chick is carefully fixed, the cloaca should be stretched and turned outward: on the outer surface of the males there is a small bulge, in the females it is absent.
How to distinguish a rooster chicken from a hen by the color of plumage in purebred chickens? In autosexual chicken breeds, the sex of the chick can be distinguished by external signs, taking into account external data. Distinguish offspring Adler chickens with roosters, you can color a cannon: males are lighter in color, and chickens are fawn. At day old, male representatives of the breed dark brama are colored light, and females have dark dots in the head and back area.
To clearly understand how to determine the sex of a day old chick, it is necessary to take into account the characteristics of the crosses. If the males are dark in color, and the chickens are white, then in the chickens, on the contrary: the females will be dark in color, and the males will be yellow. This method of determination is one hundred percent. In broilers and other large breeds, the differences in individuals will be visible almost immediately by weight data: in the first weeks, the hens are always larger than the males, at the age of one month, everything changes.
People's Councils
If you have a chicken and a rooster, the differences should be obvious. Chickens were domesticated by humans many years ago.Over the years, people have learned to distinguish between girls and boys on some grounds. Determination by the folk method is absolutely not inferior to the scientific one and gives good results. How to determine the sex of a day old chick using the inverted method? The chick should be carefully taken by the paws and tipped upside down:
- males stretch their necks;
- the hens are trying to retract the head.
How to distinguish a chicken from a rooster by examining the wings? Determining gender at one day of age is a complex process, because the main distinctive features have not yet been formed. Inspection of the wings allows you to fairly accurately distinguish between chicks by sex. In females, plumage appears earlier than in males. In cockerels, the flight feathers are longer, respectively, and the wingspan is larger.
The chick is carefully taken in hands and the wing is extended. In the female, the feathers are rarely placed and have different lengths; in males, all the feathers are of the same size, densely planted. In the early days, the sex of the chicks can be distinguished by the color of the wings. Often, the wing of the cockerel has a lighter shade. With age, this sign smoothes out, the color of the plumage changes.
How to distinguish a chicken from a rooster among grown up young? At the age of two weeks, distinctive features have already been formed. In males, a comb is clearly visible on the head, the face becomes rounded, and the skin turns red, spurs form on the paws, and plaits are visible in the tail. At the age of three months, the comb becomes even larger and acquires a more saturated shade. In females, the comb turns red only when they reach the age of 4-8 months, depending on the breed characteristics.
At an older age, it is already possible to determine the sex of a chicken by its appearance with one hundred percent accuracy. For roosters, a characteristic difference is a well-developed scarlet comb and earrings. The paws of males become massive, spurs and braids are clearly visible. Females are always smaller in size, neatly folded, have good plumage.
How to find out your gender early
You can find out the sex of the future chick even before its birth by the shape of the egg. This Method is often used when raising chicks in an incubator. Almost every experienced poultry farmer knows how to determine the sex of a chicken in an egg. This knowledge gives farmers great advantages in successfully breeding chickens. There is an opinion that testicles with sharp ends contain cockerels, and those with blunt ends contain females.
You can find out the gender of a chicken by the structure of the shell. Males sit in rough testicles, and hens sit in completely smooth testicles. There is also a more scientific approach. This will require ovoscope... How to determine the sex of a small chicken in an egg using an ovoscope?
- the incubation material must be fully illuminated from one end to the other;
- if the air chamber is on the blunt side, there is a cockerel in the egg, and a chicken on the sharp side.
To find out how to determine the sex of a chick using a regular egg, it is necessary to take into account the breed data. It will not be difficult to distinguish broilers, cockerels and chickens by the shape of an egg or with the help of an ovoscope, but for a breed such as an Maran it will be difficult. Their eggs have the correct shape, therefore, even with an ovoscope, it is not always possible to accurately find out the sex of the future offspring.
Bioacoustics method and DNA analysis
How to distinguish chicks by sex using any manual method is well known to every experienced poultry breeder. For beginners, most of the described methods will seem very complicated, so scientists have invented a bioacoustic system that allows you to find out the gender by voice data. The device analyzes the sounds emitted by chickens, and the sign lights up on the board: "male" or "female".
There is one more option: by voice data and without using this device. For example, in breeds Orpingtons and cochinquin females make characteristic sounds resembling a squeak. Quacking is typical for roosters. How to distinguish chicks by sex using a bioacoustic system, you can watch the video.
The sex of the young livestock can be found out using laboratory tests. the DNA method works with 100% accuracy. According to blood tests or biomaterials from the base of the wing in the laboratory, they can even tell about a genetic predisposition to diseases in a particular individual. This method is used for the most part in breeding factories.
Generalization and conclusions
How to determine the sex of day old chicks is a question that worries many farmers. It is clear that for experienced people this is not a problem at all, they can even tell you how to find out the sex by egg. For novice poultry farmers, most of the methods will seem very complicated, for example, not everyone can do the manipulation of viewing the genitals in a day old chick. There are simple folk methods that are practically not inferior to Vensexig.
How to determine gender by egg, you can find out from the corresponding video. The incubation material differs in shape. There is such a device as an ovoscope. It is often used when raise offspring in an incubator... It is used not only to pre-check gender, but also to control the optimal temperature in the incubator. During the entire period, the eggs shine several times.
How to distinguish monthly females from males? It's easy enough if you know exactly what to look for. Chicks of large breeds are characterized by a difference in weight. Initially, chickens develop faster than males, respectively, they will be larger. Also, the sex of young individuals can be checked using the old folk method: the chick is turned over and looked, it will pull its head in or stretch its neck. Individuals that stretch their necks are males.
The complexity of sex determination depends on the breed characteristics of the hens. Autosex chickens differ in appearance. You can find out whether a female or a rooster is in front of you by the color of the plumage. In a month, the chicks have fully formed external sexual characteristics. In males, a comb is already visible, but in chickens it is clearly visible only when females reach puberty, that is, at 5-8 months, depending on the breed.
Distinguishing chickens by sex manually is rather difficult. There are a couple of scientific methods. There is such a device as bioacoustics, which recognizes gender by chicken voices. The second method is a laboratory blood test. Now you know exactly how to determine the gender of a chicken by an egg.