Can You Hatch ONLY Hens?

Is it possible to only hatch hens? We tried hatching more hens than roosters by testing three variables: by setting only round eggs, by storing hatching eggs at 40*F for 8 hours, and by maintaining an incubation temperature .5*F less than the standard recommendation. We ended up with 16 healthy chicks! The mixed breeds of these chicks make it more difficult to determine gender until they reach maturity, and you can see each chick at 1 day old and 1 week old. We’ll tell you about some characteristics of each mixed breed that help identify their gender and show you our best guess for each chick. Follow them in their journey to adulthood to see if our experimental variables helped us hatch more hens than roosters!
Chapters:
00:01 The experimental variables
03:22 Selecting the Eggs
05:33 Candling the Eggs
06:07 Hatch Day
07:15 1 Day Old Chicks
09:55 1 Week Old Chicks, hen or roo?
This is the incubator featured in this video. I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you if you use the affiliate link below.
amzn.to/41tcCTf
Farm Innovators 4250 Incubator, Circulated Air, Digital LCD Display with Automatic Egg Turner for Improved Hatching, Up to 41 Eggs, Includes Egg Candler and Protective Plastic Shell, Heated Air, White

[@daildavis9557]

I used the round egg method last year and out of 10 eggs we hatched 2 hens and 8 roosters. I am anxious to see how you do. Good luck😃

[@SayWhyChickenThigh]

Yes, the round egg theory is not accurate, as you can see in this video and countless others on KZbin. Our success may have been achieved by altering the temperature of the eggs during storage and incubation to help terminate male embryos during incubation. This created a lower than average hatch rate, but a higher percentage of hen to rooster chicks. You can see the final results here and hear our opinion of how this experimental hatch compared to other hatches we've done. Thanks! kzbin.info/www/bejne/iaLZd2qlopeLoZYsi=OMI2Hbka4WVXbMkh

[@samanthaalessi2262]

I'm interested in the results, thanks for making this !

[@SayWhyChickenThigh]

I'll put together an update for each week of their growth so we can all share in the adventure of the hen vs. roo progression. Their 2 week old update is in the making! I feel about 90% certain of my guesses, but I've gotten some funny surprises over the years of raising chickens, so I'll wait them out before making a final call of their gender until they reach maturity in September '22.

[@phenixjiraliving]

Very fun video!!

[@SayWhyChickenThigh]

Thank you so much 💓

[@amymartin7508]

Was #5 a roo? Great video. I was smiling while watching.

[@SayWhyChickenThigh]

#5 turned out to be a beautiful orange and gold Easter Egger cross. Thanks for your kind words 😀 You can see the final update video for this hatch here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/iaLZd2qlopeLoZY

[@FisherofMen]

Looks like this video is now 9 months old. I can't find the results video. Would love to know how this turned out.

[@SayWhyChickenThigh]

Thanks for the interest! Here's the final update video for this hatch: kzbin.info/www/bejne/iaLZd2qlopeLoZY

[@FisherofMen]

@@SayWhyChickenThigh I'm so excited. Thanks!

[@Braxton-elite-archery]

I been hatching with my egg incubator with chicks, I got to many roosters is 18, and I got the 4 hens that’s all, when I was think about it, to try the loss weights is 54g or 56g with eggs hens, but I know is different is long point that is rooster, so we just keep learning to find out, and figure that out?

[@jamaeldudley9869]

Are there baby chicks inside?*kisses egg* Salmonella be damned! Lol

[@SayWhyChickenThigh]

LOL!

[@jsiegwarth]

If you said the sex is already determined when you're holding the egg (before incubation), then why would changing the temps matter?

[@SayWhyChickenThigh]

Thanks for asking. Lowering the storage temperature of the hatching eggs was done in an effort to hatch a higher percent of hens to roosters. Storing the hatching eggs at 40°F may help produce more pullets than cockerels, and this article claims 54.6 percent of the chickens will be pullets. Here's a link to an article www.publish.csiro.au/cp/AR9600664

[@SayWhyChickenThigh]

Thank you for restating the information in my video!

[@reneebrown2968]

In quail you can easily get only roos or hens by adjusting the incubator temperature. Cooler gets hens hotter gets roos.

[@SayWhyChickenThigh]

I've been very interested in raising quail. The eggs are so beautiful. Thanks for sharing that knowledge!

[@Rockygameyard]

What legband are you using for the baby chicks

[@SayWhyChickenThigh]

Leg bands for bitty baby chicks are hard to find! I use rubber bands that you may use as hair elastics or as rubber bands used for crafting those elastic bracelets. Luckily my hatchings are always uniquely-feathered enough to tell apart by the time they outgrow the elastic leg bands. I always ensure the bands are loose enough to move around their leg freely but snug enough that their feet don't slip through it.

[@kentuckychickensandhomestead]

Very interesting. I would to see the results.

[@SayWhyChickenThigh]

Thanks! Here's the final update for this experimental hatch: kzbin.info/www/bejne/iaLZd2qlopeLoZY

[@wastelandacres3423]

Can you post a link to what leg bands you use?

[@SayWhyChickenThigh]

Hi, thanks for inquiring. I use small, colorful rubber bands that aren't specifically marketed as chick leg bands. They are used for rubber band jewelry making, or small hair elastics. They work well as chick leg bands, doubled up, until the chicks reach about a month old. By then the chicks are usually feathered out and matured enough to be able to differentiate between without leg bands. I always check them to make sure they aren't getting tight or dirty and change them at least once a week.

[@wastelandacres3423]

@@SayWhyChickenThigh awesome! Thank you!

[@joellazado2862]

Hello, would you say the hen were lighter and smaller with this method?

[@SayWhyChickenThigh]

Hi, thanks for asking! I didn't weigh the chicks but the chicks that hatched from this clutch were uniform to other chicks I've hatched from other clutches. They didn't seem lighter in weight or smaller in size than typical hatchlings. I have a Silkie rooster and so often I do get some pint-sized chicks from the eggs he's fertilized. But overall this clutch seemed on point in healthy size and weight.

[@pseudopetrus]

Good luck!

[@SayWhyChickenThigh]

Thanks!

[@jaynakonecny7010]

Please update very interested in your results!

[@SayWhyChickenThigh]

Thank you! Here is the final update video kzbin.info/www/bejne/iaLZd2qlopeLoZYsi=OMI2Hbka4WVXbMkh

[@tammyi363]

Well, I chose only round eggs to hatch out. 12 round eggs equaled 9 roosters!!!

[@SayWhyChickenThigh]

Ah, such is life. Congrats on your new hatch!

[@RedRubyFarm]

Oh my that sounds like the luck I would have. ❤

[@rockytopsebrights606]

Why do ppl call a male a roo? It sounds silly. Cockarel, cock "male" pullet, hen "female" when did a kangaroo have anything to do with a chicken?

[@HawaiianHoshika]

I dont know if your joking or not, its hard to tell with just text, but it's just a shortening of rooster. Roo = Rooster.

[@lterral3273]

I am pretty sure it is Roo for Rooster

[@chrisbridgeshome]

Do you have an update on this?

[@SayWhyChickenThigh]

Thanks for the interest. Here's the final update for this video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/iaLZd2qlopeLoZY

[@glaucouswingedgull]

8 months later--what are your results? You said your incubator gives a hatch rate of 98% but then in this trial, you only had a hatch rate of 48% ? How do the attempted enriching for hens work out?

[@SayWhyChickenThigh]

Thank you for your interest! There are a few follow-up videos showing this clutch's growth over the weeks, but here is the final update video for this clutch: kzbin.info/www/bejne/iaLZd2qlopeLoZY You can skip to 4:31 to see the breakdown of hens and roos, or watch it in entirety to see each chick at 1 day old, 1 week old, 2 weeks old, and 1 month old. As I mentioned in the follow up video, I won't be repeating this experiment since it was emotionally hard to have such a high ratio of non-viable chicks hatch from a result of the temperature fluctuations. And so, YES, following these variables definitely did increase the ratio of hens to roos in this clutch, but it comes with consequences, also.

[@glaucouswingedgull]

@@SayWhyChickenThigh Thank you for the follow up and link. I did not realize the problems caused by such subtle temperature variation. This explains my preference for using broody hens over the typical styrofoam box incubators. Thanks again.

[@glaucouswingedgull]

I find it so ironic that the temperature variation is so critical with incubators but seems more forgiving under a broody hen. In the past I’ve had low success with an incubator. Last week a broody hen hatched out 8 out of 13 eggs. On multiple occasions I found that she had mistakenly moved off her nest to sit on another. I would pick her up and deposit her on the correct nest. Most of the time, the eggs appeared warm, but one time toward the end of the hatch, they had cooled to ambient, about 70° f.

[@Bioluvskatz]

Where is the follow up video please?

[@SayWhyChickenThigh]

Thanks for your interest in this project! There are 3 follow-up videos on this channel showing this clutch's growth, but here is the final update showing the results of this clutch: kzbin.info/www/bejne/iaLZd2qlopeLoZY You can skip to 4:31 to see the breakdown of hens and roos, or watch it in entirety to see each chick at 1 day old, 1 week old, 2 weeks old, and 1 month old. I think it's so cool to see how much their feathering and postures change over the weeks. Thanks again for your question!

[@jamesdiamond820]

Alligators and crocodiles hatch male or females depending on the temperature of the incubation

[@SayWhyChickenThigh]

Cool!

[@reneebrown2968]

1 roo 5 roo 8 roo 13 roo 15 roo

[@SayWhyChickenThigh]

Ah, I love your guesses! Thank you so much for playing along. These Easter Egger and Olive Egger crosses are all so unique. #1 has the cute mohawk from its Cream Legbar cross mama and retained the rounded tail feathers. "She" moved to a neighboring farm and so far is still calling our bluff as a hen. I also said Roo due to that comb. Time will tell for sure. Number 5 is a full-on hen, and she's the daughter of Della, our very most favored Easter Egger. You can see a lot of videos of Della on our channel since she is the most loved hen of our whole flock. Number 5 is named Delia now and is growing up quite lovely as well. She will be featured in videos coming up and I hope she also lays turquoise eggs like her mama. If she ends up crowing I think I'd faint, and then reassign our current rooster into soup so that I could keep Delia instead. I could rename Delia "Dylan"! Number 8 was also rehomed to a new farm. The person who took it called it a hen, and I called it most likely a hen. I'll post updates if anything changes and I end up with a returned chicken in the future ;-) Number 15, oh the mystery! Number 15 looks exactly like its mama hen, who is a Black Copper Maran and Americana cross (I just labeled it as 'Olive Egger' on the video as this is a type of olive egg laying hen). I'll definitely post an update about that one. Today, June 20th 2020, these chicks are now 3 months old. As time goes on they are retaining their rounded feathers and hen-like mannerisms. I watch them everyday for changes but more and more it looks like the temperature variation actually worked in eliminating the male embryos. But like I mentioned in the last update, I wouldn't repeat this experiment due to how emotionally rough it ended up being. I love all my chickens and seeing them suffer because of selection like this was very hard. Had I known that I'd have to watch hatchlings suffer like that, I wouldn't have tried it at all. I thought that the roos all might die as eggs before they even started to develop. But here I am middle aged and almost a decade into raising backyard chickens, and still learning so much about them everyday. Thank you so much for commenting! Chicken enthusiasts are the best!

[@lithod02]

@2:02 1099 degrees??? What? That is a really fried hard egg!

[@SayWhyChickenThigh]

crispy

[@catemc2323]

🌈💚🍀

[@graceburghard2094]

How do you get a kangaroo out of the egg?

[@SayWhyChickenThigh]

Jump

[@toddreddick3777]

So where are the results?

[@SayWhyChickenThigh]

Thanks for asking! Here's the final update kzbin.info/www/bejne/iaLZd2qlopeLoZY

[@elladelezenne5891]

Roo maybe

[@SayWhyChickenThigh]

Haha, there always seems to be more roos than hens! I hope you check out the final video in this series to see the results from this clutch: kzbin.info/www/bejne/iaLZd2qlopeLoZY . Thanks for commenting!

[@xRiley_v]

What was the outcome

[@SayWhyChickenThigh]

We ended up with 11 hens and 5 roosters! You can see them in this video kzbin.info/www/bejne/iaLZd2qlopeLoZY

[@songoftheblackunicorn666]

The other issue I would like to state is that the breeds you are brooding are more prone to cross beak than the majority of breeds so you may be setting yourself up for either alot of extra care or possibly having to euthanize.

[@SayWhyChickenThigh]

Oh wow, I must have great luck! I've hatched hundreds of chicks with not 1 cross beak chick yet. Thanks for the tip!

[@songoftheblackunicorn666]

@@SayWhyChickenThigh I have not hatched one cross beak either. But I did buy a nonstandard Americana chick that developed genetic cross beak right after her first week. My favorites are the aurucana decended breeds and the regularly feathered crested breeds. Unfortunately incubation difficulties increase all deformities across the board and are one of three causes of cross beaked chickens. The other two causes are genetics and insufficient nutrition. Most people feed their chickens correctly. So the other two issues are incubation problems or genetics. One out of eight offspring will be cross beaked out of a cross beaked parent bird and genetic cross beaks will hatch out looking normal but will start deviating before two weeks of age. You will know immediately at hatching if anything happened to cause cross beak during incubation because they will hatch out with the cross beak deformity already apparent and visible. The ones caused by nutritional issues manifest cross beak after the first two weeks of age. So good job keeping your birds genetically healthy and helping us all to have a population of arucana decended birds without cross beak. Just thought itd be worth mentioning because although incubator malfunction chicks typically don't even make it out of the shell it is absolutely heartbreaking to watch them valiantly try to make it like only those of that bloodline do and fail to where you have no choice but to assist them or to have to humanely end their suffering. My Americana Izzy is going to be three this June, but I have almost lost her three times due to the complications due to severe cross beak.

[@templenaff5598]

I tried the round egg theory. I incubated sex links so I could tell right away. I got 2 roosters and 7 hens out of 10 eggs. I’m trying again to see if the theory holds. The hen determines the sex so maybe my 6 Barred Rocks just spit out hens. This time I added 3 Cream Legbars/Dominique crosses.

[@SayWhyChickenThigh]

Those are great odds! Lots of luck on this next hatch.

[@MsMuffetsTuffet]

The male ALWAYS determines the sex. Simple genetics. Females have XX chromosomes and males have XY chromosomes. The gametes or ova/sperm are half of each. So when a sperm, either X or Y fertilizes an ova, which is always an X, the resulting embryo fertilized by an X sperm will be female and one fertilized by a Y sperm will be male. The male is therefore the one that determines the sex.

[@abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz0]

Update 😊 ?! TY

[@misscami7]

3 weeks later and....? Excited to see the results!

[@SayWhyChickenThigh]

Thank you!

[@adaywithaleks6556]

The round egg theory is also something certain peopoe believe in Russia interesting enough.

[@SayWhyChickenThigh]

Nice, how fun. 😊 The love and interest for our pets and animal pals is a powerful connection that also helps us relate to one another as people. Thanks for checking out the video. I hope you get a chance to check out the final update, here kzbin.info/www/bejne/iaLZd2qlopeLoZY

[@RickysFarmAndHatchery]

I got 3 wrong

[@SayWhyChickenThigh]

These cross breeds of mine will trick the best "rooster spotter" out there, but I think that's just part of their charm 😉. I just completed two large hatches (March 4th & 11th, 2023) for local chicken enthusiasts to build up their flocks, and as usual everyone only wants the hens. Guess how many roosters I get to keep? 16! I'm hoping there's a surprise hen in the mix for me and they're not all future chicken dinners ☺️. I'm debating doing some age-up videos of these rooster chicks since they all look so handsome even without their colorful adult feathers. Thanks so much for checking out this video and leaving a comment 🐣

[@brendachilders8075]

40 is too cold to store the eggs, and this is nuts… i doubt she hatched mauch… killing baby eggs, shame shame…

[@SayWhyChickenThigh]

Hi, Thanks for your interest in the results of this experimental hatch. You can find that video here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/iaLZd2qlopeLoZY As it turned out, we ended up with a promising amount of hens from this hatch-- 11 out of 16! That's a hatch of 68.75% female chicks. We hatch chicks year round on our little hobby farm. I hope you get a chance to check out some of our more recent uploads, and thanks for leaving a comment!