Sex Identification in Baby Chicks of “Red” Varieties

Byerly and Quinn (1936) reported that 47.5 percent of the baby chicks in their strain of Rhode Island Reds had a small black spot or dark colored stripes on the head or dorsal surface. Approximately 85 percent of those having the spots of intensified melanic pigment were females. Hays (1940) found only 26.8 percent of the chicks in his strain had these dark markings, and less than 85 percent of these were females. An improved method for sex identification in Rhode Island Red Chicks was given by Hays and Klein (1943). This was developed by Homer Rowell, a Massachusetts Poultryman, and may be briefly summarized as follows: The writer has observed Mr. Rowell using the above method with chicks of his own selected strain. As a test of its suitability for sex identification in Rhode Island Red chicks of the strains bred in Oklahoma, a one hundred-size box of chicks . . .