Boy vs Girls 2018.
- Skinny rooster
- Head Chicken
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Boy vs Girls 2018.
Sooo? How did the hatches go regarding boys vs Girls? I didn't want to say it... I didn't want to jinx myself but I finished hatching in June and this was year of the hen for me!!!! In fact even though I sold many groups of little hens this year, my numbers are almost even, with 15 hen chicks and 17 rooster chicks left. I also sold some rooster chicks but certainly no where near as many as the little hens. I don't mind keeping the roosters now that I know how to quickly turn them into stew.
I separated them and it's interesting to see the difference. The boys drink a lot more water, they also make their water dirty by the end of the day, they are also much better to eat and clean everything up. They squabble a lot more, they perched on the roosts much younger and as high as they could get. However they are more active and weary of me, they are quicker to become panicked but also quicker to take cover.
The girls are much calmer, were much easier to mix different ages together, within 24 hours they were a united flock of 4 to 7 week olds. They never dirty their water, they eat a lot less however they waste a lot, I kept raising the feeder because they love scooping feed out. Unlike the boys, once it touches the floor, that's it, there is no way they are eating anything off the floor. It took about a week extra before all hens would sleep up on the perches. Fighting or squabbling doesn't happen.
My only complaint about hatching this year is one bantam hen is half standard ameraucana and she lays a nice size egg, her chicks are a good size as well. The first ones I hatched were roosters, so near the end of the hatching season I hatched a bunch of chicks off her, all roosters except one lol but I can't complain because most others were hens.
I separated them and it's interesting to see the difference. The boys drink a lot more water, they also make their water dirty by the end of the day, they are also much better to eat and clean everything up. They squabble a lot more, they perched on the roosts much younger and as high as they could get. However they are more active and weary of me, they are quicker to become panicked but also quicker to take cover.
The girls are much calmer, were much easier to mix different ages together, within 24 hours they were a united flock of 4 to 7 week olds. They never dirty their water, they eat a lot less however they waste a lot, I kept raising the feeder because they love scooping feed out. Unlike the boys, once it touches the floor, that's it, there is no way they are eating anything off the floor. It took about a week extra before all hens would sleep up on the perches. Fighting or squabbling doesn't happen.
My only complaint about hatching this year is one bantam hen is half standard ameraucana and she lays a nice size egg, her chicks are a good size as well. The first ones I hatched were roosters, so near the end of the hatching season I hatched a bunch of chicks off her, all roosters except one lol but I can't complain because most others were hens.
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- windwalkingwolf
- Poultry Guru - pullet level
- Posts: 3567
- Joined: Sat Dec 12, 2015 1:31 pm
- Location: Frankville, Ontario
- x 4899
Re: Boy vs Girls 2018.
Year of the hen here, too! Very first hatch was almost exactly 50/50, as were the next two, and ever since then it's been about 70/30 with pullets in much greater numbers than cockerels. Ducks... Of the ones I kept, only two drakes and one maybe, and six hens. Turkeys, out of the 5 bronze I kept, looks like 2 jens, 2 jakes and one
Those turkeys don't count though, because they probably won't be staying
This is the first year I will have fewer than 30 cockerels to process in fall, and also the first year I may have to consider processing extra hens.
![dunno :dunno:](./images/smilies/dunno.gif)
![turkeycook :turkeycook:](./images/smilies/turkeycook.gif)
This is the first year I will have fewer than 30 cockerels to process in fall, and also the first year I may have to consider processing extra hens.
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- Happy
- Poultry Guru - pullet level
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Re: Boy vs Girls 2018.
75% girls hatched here this year. Last year was opposite so I'm on a running tally of 50/50.
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- Ontario Chick
- Poultry Guru
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- Location: Carp - West Ottawa
- x 9629
Re: Boy vs Girls 2018.
My hatches seemed to be 50/50 which is pretty good usually 75/25 boys verses girls.
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- Farrier1987
- Stringy Old Chicken
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- Joined: Fri Jan 15, 2016 5:46 pm
- Location: Chatham-Kent
- x 3533
Re: Boy vs Girls 2018.
I'm about 60-40 boys to girls this year.
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Farrier1987. South of Chatham on Lake Erie. Chickens, goats, horse, garden, dog, cat. Worked all over the world. Know a little bit about a lot of things. No incubator, broody hens.
- WLLady
- Stringy Old Soup Pot Hen of a Moderator
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Re: Boy vs Girls 2018.
75% boys....as always
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![giraffe :giraffe:](./images/smilies/giraffe-smiley.gif)
- Skinny rooster
- Head Chicken
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- Killerbunny
- Poultry Guru - total zen level
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Re: Boy vs Girls 2018.
60/40 on the first lot but one I am unsure of (turkeys). I don't mind more boys than girls because I usually get more requests for jakes.
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![I love PTO :iheartpto:](./images/smilies/IHeartPTO.png)
Beltsville Small White turkeys.
Mutt chickens for eggs
RIP Stephen the BSW Tom and my coffee companion.
RIP Lucky the Very Brave Splash Wyandotte rooster.
RIP little Muppet the rescue cat.
![turkey :turkey:](./images/smilies/turkey.gif)
![bat :bat:](./images/smilies/bat.gif)
- WLLady
- Stringy Old Soup Pot Hen of a Moderator
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Re: Boy vs Girls 2018.
at least the boys strut and are super cute....LOL.
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![giraffe :giraffe:](./images/smilies/giraffe-smiley.gif)