A Method of “Controlling Sex” by Dipping of Eggs in Hormone Solutions

SELTZER (1956), in a U. S. Patent, stated that dipping of eggs in hormone solutions enabled him to control the sex of the hatched chicks. The sex of the chicks was determined by an unspecified “physical examination.” He also stated, “ . . . female chicks derived from estrogenically influenced eggs, incubated according to my invention have been raised to maturity and found to be normal layers of normal eggs.” This statement is ambiguous because it leaves in doubt whether it refers to genetic males or genetic females. Injection of estrogen into fertile eggs before sex differentiation is known to affect embryonic development of the reproductive tract of male and female embryos. This subject has been reviewed by Domm (1939 Domm (1955), Witschi (1939), Benoit (1950), and Burns (1955). However, the laying of eggs by genetic males, although not specifically stated but implied in the quoted sentence above, would be contrary . . .