Unlikely sex ratio from darkeggs.com

[Tumbulu]

I bought 30 chicks supposedly straight run from darkeggs.com . They were breeds that you could tell the sex of the chick by it's coloring. But I had never had these breeds and was just going by what I read about them.

So, it has been 6 months now and out of 27 live chickens, three are hens and 24 are roosters.......they are all now beginning to fight with each other and I am pretty angry. I wrote an e-mail asking the owner how this could possibly be straight run, but so far no answer.

[MineralMan]

1. Chicken dinners, ready in the freezer.

[hippywife]

2. As far as I know

straight run means you take your chances and get whatever hatches. :shrug:

Still a bummer you ended up with so many roosters. I would never order straight run if I was using a hatchery.

[Tumbulu]

3. That was all that was offered on these breeds

There are a number of small hatcheries that offer only straight run on rare breeds. But I honestly do not think that they sent me straight runs at all. I think they just sent males.

[hippywife]

4. You might want to go with someone with a really

reliable reputation next time, such as McMurray Hatcheries http://www.mcmurrayhatchery.com/

Or even better, see if you can find a more local hatchery. Go meet the folks, talk to them about what you need if they hatch some of the rarer breeds.

Wishing you luck.

[Tumbulu]

5. This was the most local hatchery

with these breeds. Murry didn't have them and these guys are only 75 miles away from me. It is a small hatchery. I am just posting this so that anyone else here who buys chicks (which i rarely do as my hens usually have enough chicks) is warned.

[LWolf]

6. I'll certainly keep that in mind.

What kind of chicken were you trying to get?

[Tumbulu]

8. Welsummers and Chanticlers

They seemed like a nice different breed with very pretty feathers. I love to collect the feathers from the molting birds and make things with them. One year I bought hatching eggs from these breeds from people on e-bay, but my hens would sit on then for two weeks and then abandon them. I much prefer a hen to raise the chicks. But these we raised and tamed. Very frustrating.

[LWolf]

9. I hear that the

Wellsummers lay a chocolate brown egg, similar to the Maran.

You might try keeping a banty to set eggs for you; they are quite broody.

[hippywife]

7. That IS a bummer.

Has he called you back yet? Hopefully he will try and help you out.

[Tumbulu]

10. I just now got an e-mail offering pullet chicks as replacements

so I feel much better. He said there must have been some kind of mistake. I'll let you know what happens.

But this is a good sign.

[timo]

11. sex links

sex link is the term for grading the males and females by color, purebred chickens wouldnt be sex linked, sex links are hybrids not pure breds.

[greenbird]

12. That's right

Mine are sex-linked red and black stars, which are a hybrid. 24 roosters! Wow.