Sexing Chickens

 

You know, you can buy anything. Maybe it's always been this way. Medicine shows have been and still are making money for the people who run them. But this is a new twist, at least to me. The object in the picture is two slices of some composite material with embedded magnetic properties glued back to back. In the picture the instrument is stuck to my refrigerator. (I am holding the string erect-it is not magnetic.)
The way this instrument is to be used is by holding a chick and swinging the magnet over the chick in a front to back direction. The magnet should be swung about an inch over the chick's head. Start the arrow swinging over the chick and count slowly to 30. If the arrow starts to move in a circle after 20, the bird is female. If it continues back and forth for a count of 30, the chick is male. If the bird bumps the arrow, you must start over.
Another way of sexing chicks is to hold it in your hand with the legs between your middle and index finger. If the chick draws its body closer to its feet it is female. If it stretches it's feet down , it is male.
Chicken sexing is more important than you might think at first. You would not want roosters in a house where you were producing eggs for sale. Someone might be offended by that dot of blood in the yolk. In the case of producing hatching eggs, too many roosters in the house would cause a lot of unnecessary fights.
The first people to determine accurately the sex of chicks were Japanese. They did it the way you might imagine. They looked at the chicks genitals. But you have to know how and where to look.
Now I am sure this is too much information for some of you. But I just could not resist sharing this valuable information with you. And if you want to get one of these sexing gagets, I can get you an address.