Hi Dr. Doug. Strange how you got your handle. I had an uncle that people called Colonel but he never served one day in the military. He was a part time auctioneer in his local area and was the local square dance crier. Regardless of how different a self study practice or field of expertise might be, almost everyone is a specialist in some unique area, and that is a good thing.
Your chick supplier has told you another not quite true story. There were several thousand people on the various, now mostly defunct MSN and Yahoo poultry sites back in 2001, who all did research work for an entire season studying fluctuating incubator temperatures to see if it affected the sex ratios of birds.
Prolonged increased temps and fluctuating temperatures during incubation does have some affect and change the sex of reptiles but has no effect on changing the sex of birds.
What your chick supplier might have meant was that the sexed chicks they get are about 98% guaranteed to be pullets or cockerels. The art of chick sexing has improved to the point that the sexors are almost fool proof when it comes to sexing day olds fresh out of the
incubator. Not only do they vent sex chicks they have also
discovered how to feather sex some breeds just by looking at the wing developing feathers on newly hatched chicks. This too is an almost fool proof way to sex chicks and is the method most often employed by the giant hatcheries that supply the billions of chicks every year for the poultry conglomerates and mega corporation farms.
Lastly it is your decision where you buy your chicks. There are so many different categories and levels of poultry keeping and no two are ever close to being the same. I often throw out a good source or site link of where to buy your chicks cheaply and get the best results for your hard earned dollar. Some of the smaller family owned hatcheries may not have a grand number of breeds to offer but often
their facilities and flocks are cleaner and better kept than the nationally known hatcheries.
I have dealt with Schlect hatchery for many years and have never found their service or poultry wanting in any way. They have a no kill hatchery and once a month they take all of their extras, a lot of newly hatched, and their left over cockerels to a giant flea market and sell them at their own permanent booth. I got there a little late one time and all that was left were a lot of broiler chicks of all sizes. I said what cha got? She said 41 and I will sell them to you as 30. I said How much? and she said how's 50 cents each sound. [It sounded a lot better than 90] LOL. I said, boxem. I had chicks all the way from 3 week old cornish game hen size all the way down to day old. They sure were some excellent eating and I never lost a one of them while they were growing. Before that good deal came along I had been calling the hatchery and buying 25 chicks delivered to the swap every month for the past 3 years which more or less made me a regular buyer.
She also brought a large group of Golden laced Wyandotte sexed pullets and sexed cockerels one time and sold these started birds for 3 X more the asking price at her family hatchery. Still not a bad deal for someone wanting hard to find rare stock.
Schlecht's hatchery doesn't sex many of their breeds and this in turn
saves a lot of money for everyone concerned. If you are wanting to keep a few pullets and eat a few free range cockerels then this is the place to buy. If you only want a small group of pullets and no cockerels then the local farm supply stores are as good as any and you get to pick out the best looking and most vigorous chicks they
have. Dean
----------------------------------------------------------"Doug Rooney" wrote:
Thank you for the reply,
So are you suggesting I do not buy from a local farm supply? We have many here as I am in a rural agricultural area in Nor Cal
I was in Tractor Supply today and he has lots of birds, as do the other 2 places I visited in the last few days.
One thing I found odd was he said he had pullets, but they were only a few weeks old, he said the temp of the hatchery determines their gender.
He said that only 1 out of a hundred will actually be a rooster, I am not done with my coop so I am in no hurry, but does this sound reasonable?
Because it was sure news to me.
Thanks
Dr.Doug
