Essay No. 10 (January/Feburary 2002):
Extract from "The Specialist Chick Sexer"
By R. D. Martin
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For the poultry fancier, poultry industry historian and potential
chick sexers. Extracts from: 'The
Specialist Chick Sexer' R.D. Martin, available at US$32.00 airmailed
to any part of the world within 7 to 10 days.
THE 1960'S
This extract
comments on the two great changes in the poultry industry in the
1960's, and the effects these changes had on commercial chick sexers.
It also compares the vent and 'machine' methods of sexing day old
chickens.
THE TWO CHANGES: THE NUMBERS AND TECHNOLOGY
By the early 1960s both egg and chicken-meat production had started
to become highly integrated and sophisticated industries. During
the 20 years from 1960 progress was extremely rapid. It was the
period of greatest change in the industry's history, not only in
Australia but throughout the world.
Instead of poultry meat being a by-product of the egg industry,
it became a separate industry with very modern technology and its
continuing expansion brought many changes.
Two outstanding changes occurred. One was the increased size of
operations, such as the number of birds that could be reared in
a single shed, and the large number of chicks hatched in incubators.
The other great advantage was in technology. This was necessary
for the new economics of large-scale production.
The vertical integration that took place saw the rapid disappearance
of individually owned farms and hatcheries. By the 1980s the poultry
industry was one of the most efficient primary industries in the
world.
The egg industry, with the increase in the use of the laying cage
system and hatching of layer replacement stock, was no longer restricted
to the spring season, but was extended to ten months of the year.
Mat effects did these changes have on the commercial chick sexer?
Initially, it became a second Golden Age for commercial chick sexers.
From the mid 1960s many commercial chick sexers worked all the year
around. The vent chick sexers from the second generation kept sexing
chicks for breeding and replacement egg-laying stock. In Victoria
the new wave of newly qualified "machine" chick sexers
were busy sexing chickens for the meat industry. Pullets and cockerels
were reared separately to meet different bird-size requirements.
The price for sexing chicks stayed the same for many years, but
most full-time chick sexers earned around $1000 for three days'
work in the latter days of this period.
Side effects of having broiler chicks sexed were, in some instances,
a reduction in chick-sexing fees and, as broiler management was
not so concerned about accuracy, there developed a practice for
a while in some hatcheries of dumping a handful of unsexed chicks
in the crate of sexed chicks occasionally to counteract the lower
sexing fees.
As Max Akam replied when asked did he ever worry about being out
of work? "No, as the family farms disappeared there was always
someone there to take their place ... Frankly, 1 could see no end
to it."
Lena Rogers, a third-generation"machine" chick sexer
had similar thoughts when she said, "I never really thought
chick sexing would go out ... There was so much work about you didn't
worry about it."
It could be argued that this third-generation period from 1960
to the 1980s was really the golden age of commercial chick sexing,
and for many it was. In Victoria, most vent chick sexers gradually
"retired" from chick sexing.
Max Akam was the main exception. Noel Hargreaves also kept going,
but died while holidaying in England. Charlie Bode came back into
the business to replace Hargreaves, and stayed for six years, retiring
at 67.
Another vent chick sexer, Les Tait, did some commercial chick sexing
on a part-time basis, but this was basically an age of "machine"
sexers in Victoria.
Until feather sexing made them redundant in the early 1980s, most
would have done well.
But, as several have said, we earned big money, but none of us seem
to have much to show for it.
Comparisons
Some comparisons between the methods and the people who took on
hand sexing and the people who took on "machine" sexing
need to he made here.
A large majority of vent sexers came from families of poultry farmers
or hatchery men, or had an interest in the poultry industry.
Vent sexing was difficult and costly to learn. In Victoria, there
was, over the years, a success rate of less than one per cent, according
to Department of Agriculture records.
No vent chick sexer in Victoria other than three Japanese experts
in the 1930s reached 100 per cent accuracy at a test.
A commercial chick sexer using the vent method must concentrate;
otherwise his or her accuracy will slip. Laughing and talking as
you work is not conducive to accurate chick sexing. Many "I
argue this applies to both methods. Many argue the vent method requires
a greater degree of concentration than the "machine" method,
but not everybody would agree with this.
It was claimed by one manufacturer of the chick sexing "machine",
when it was first introduced, that it required no more concentration
than typing. But even a good typist needs to concentrate to avoid
errors.
Most chick sexers always have a subconscious fear of making errors,
and even though they are sure of every chick they sex, mistakes
do occur. He or she also has that hidden ambition to be more accurate
than their peers. A vent sexer's reputation and business was built
on accuracy; most "machine" chick sexers can get 98 per
cent accuracy, or higher, seemingly without much effort.
A vent sexer's skill is one that is dearly earned. Most "machine"
chick sexers are able to gain 100 per cent accuracy after only a
few months' practice. Many "machine" chick-sexing candidates
who did not get 100 per cent in the examinations were 100 per cent
accurate, but lost points because they punctured the bowels of some
of the chickens.
There is no argument that the "machine' method is easier and
cheaper to learn. Getting 100 per cent in a test is not too difficult.
An operator using the "machine" can usually be sure that
what he or she is seeing is correct on most occasions. No great
intuition is required. The skill is in the handling of the chick
with gentleness and speed.
Both methods are reliable and being able to concentrate hour after
hour after hour is essential. This is a merit not everyone has.
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