Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat
Poultry and Pets => The Hen House => Topic started by: scotty on June 30, 2010, 13:50
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sure you'v heard this before but as its my first time hatching eggs.........yup i'm the steep learning curve again!
Q i have been told that if i put the incubator temp up 1 degree then i have more chance of getting girls than boys?? any opinions please!! ( ducks eggs )
would rather get more girls than boys, but don't want to over heat and kill them all!
thanks in advance
Di
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If that was true Di, we'd all be doing it!
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i did wonder myself.....the person that told me has been doing it for years. they do still get boys though! funny i wasn't given any percentages, all observations.
would it be worth a try or not? only doing 6 eggs
cheers
Di
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If birds were reptiles it would work.
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Gender in ducks is determined by genetics and although there is some suggestion that there is a difference in suceptibility to temperature between the genders, trying to manipulate this will just lead to losses of the embryos. As has been said, if it worked then everyone would be doing it! Also 6 is far too small a number to determine a difference. With a small number there is a reasonable chance of getting all girls or all boys and it just being chance. Mess with the temp and you might lose them.
I incubate my ducklings at 37.5 for the first 25 days and the drop in to 37 for the final 3. My female ratio is slightly above half but that is only on about 40 ducklings so it will gradually drop to 50% or just under.
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thanks everyone.
and Kate will take note and will drop the temp down at 25 days, fingers crossed for my first ever hatch no matter what sex they turn out! day 19 and counting! :) :) :)
Di