# Just issuing my frustrations



## Jeremysbrinkman (Jul 12, 2012)

I bought 20 chicks in September from MY own cousin. I told her I wanted some hens for getting fresh eggs. She assured me they were all hens except maybe a couple which I was ok with. I have now raised them up to a suitable size to send to freezer camp because all were males except 4! So I now have 16 roosters to put up in the freezer and not enough hens for fresh eggs! Just awarding newbies beware of what people tell you because it may not be true even if you think you can trust them.


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## ellis36 (Mar 25, 2013)

Heck! Last time I bought chicks from a Feed & Seed store I was assured that they were sexed. “All Pullets!” 
Two out of eight were roosters!


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## Jim (Sep 26, 2012)

This is why I sell all mine as straight run. Until I see signs later on, I won't try to sex them for anyone, of course, I have only been at it about 9 mos, but that is a high number of Roos!


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## Pathfindersfarm (Sep 6, 2012)

Be aware that the only way to determine gender in chicks reliably is only done by vent sexing, a skill that only the most highly trained employees of hatcheries have. There are a very few breeds that can be sexed by color at hatch, and a very few that can be sexed by wing feather length at hatch, but the vast majority of chicks cannot be sexed. All the wives tales in the world about how a chick acts when frightened, or held upside down, etc. etc. are just that, wives tales. 

Which is why most reputable breeders just sell their chicks "straight run", because if we could vent sex, we'd be working for hatcheries making the big bucks!


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## BuckeyeChickens (Jul 11, 2012)

Jeremysbrinkman said:


> I bought 20 chicks in September from MY own cousin. I told her I wanted some hens for getting fresh eggs. She assured me they were all hens except maybe a couple which I was ok with. I have now raised them up to a suitable size to send to freezer camp because all were males except 4! So I now have 16 roosters to put up in the freezer and not enough hens for fresh eggs! Just awarding newbies beware of what people tell you because it may not be true even if you think you can trust them.


JB, I feel your pain....I would never trust any of my cousins anyway!!!

Seriously, sometimes a hatch can go either way, more pullets than cockerels, but seldom do I get hatches that are 50/50 and without knowing what your cousin did to sex the chicks I'd give her the benefit of the doubt! Lot's of good folks get sucked into to the "interweb" school of chick sexing where these self proclaimed "experts" suggest all manners or methods of sexing day old chicks. Some even resort to voodoo or witchcraft but the reality is ONLY a "sex-link hybrid" is practically fool proof for the novice or hobby producer to sex with any degree of accuracy! Hatcheries employ real experts, many of Asian ancestry, because Asian's were the folks who perfected sexing day old chicks thousands of years ago. If you are buying sexed day old chicks that are not "sex-linked hybrids" my advice is to order directly from a hatchery if you don't want cockerels!!!


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