VENTING

 The most accurate and successful way to sex a chicken is known as venting or vent sexing. However, it’s also quite difficult and takes someone with a lot of skill to do.

Venting works best on one-day-old chicks. With this method, you hold the one-day-old baby chick in your hand and push it down slightly below the vent so as to spread it open. This allows you to actually see the chick’s sex organs to tell if it’s a male or female.

Male and female sex organs can look remarkably similar in chicks this young, so while venting is the most reliable way to sex a chicken, it’s still tough. It takes a lot of practice, and even experienced breeders don’t always make the correct determination.

Furthermore, if it’s done incorrectly, it can be very dangerous for the young chick. If you squeeze too hard or do anything wrong, you can irreparably damage its sex organs or even kill the chick. This process is never recommended for the average person. You can, however, ask a breeder if they can vent sex your chick for you.

This video shows the venting process and how delicate you must be while performing it.



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