Who determines sex of chicks - rooster or hen??

[crazy chook]

I have 2 hens with my rooster, one hen lays light brown eggs and the other white. The light brown eggs are turning out to be 90% male and the whitish eggs about 40% roosters hatch.

So am I correct to assume that it is the hen that determines the sex and not the rooster? Or is it a fluke that the brown eggs are mostly male? and that over time it would even out to 50% each way?

 

[RAREROO]

I believe that is correct. I think in humans and other mammles, the male determines the sex of the offspring and in birds the female determines the sex.

Though I will say that once have had 5 barred rock hens that I was using to make black sexlinks with. First I was using a buff orp roo with them and was getting about half and half pullets and roos, then I switched to a RIR roo and only hatched a couple batches from him, but of the ones that hatched, all of them were pullets. But like I said, I'm pretty sure that in birds, it is the mother that determines the sex.

 

[FireTigeris]

The hen determines sex in birds (unlike mammals where the male does), they (the females) are the ones with the two different sex chromosomes.

ZW sex-determination system is that the females have the ZW and the males have ZZ.

 

[starforever61]

No, actually the rooster determines that. It works the same with them. I can guarantee that.

The mother does not guarantee the gender. It's all up to the daddy.

 

[SunChick]

Quote:
Nope! In birds it is opposite of mammals. Females determine gender, they have the different sex chromosomes Z and W, one of each. Males have ZZ.

Humans it is XX = Female and XY = male. Males in humans determine gender. What is true for one class of animals is not true for another. A lot of people assume what is true for humans must be true for all classes.

A helpful link about species sex determination: http://biology.about.com/od/basicgenetics/p/chromosgender.htm

 

[Chris09]

I also believe that the hen has a lot to do with what the sex of the offspring is going to be and also the hen puts a lot of "type" into the offspring also. Here is a link to a article about the "secret in the dam" and is titled "The Secrets in the Dam".
http://bloslspoutlryfarm.tripod.com/id50.html

Chris

 

[speckledhen]

The sex of the chick is determined by the hen, not the rooster. Avians are different than mammals.

 

[crazy chook]

I guess then that I will be eating the light brown eggs and not incubating them!

 

[crazy chook]

Quote:
Thank you Chris that article is very informative.

 

[hallerlake]

Quote:
Nope! In birds it is opposite of mammals. Females determine gender, they have the different sex chromosomes Z and W, one of each. Males have ZZ.

Humans it is XX = Female and XY = male. Males in humans determine gender. What is true for one class of animals is not true for another. A lot of people assume what is true for humans must be true for all classes.

A helpful link about species sex determination: http://biology.about.com/od/basicgenetics/p/chromosgender.htm

I learn something new every day. How fascinating.