My own 20 years, as a mostly full-time all the year, chick sexer were very satisfying; and in those times very profitable. I sexed chickens for one large hatchery all the year round, another large egg farm in the spring hatching season (in Australia June till mid-October), and seventeen smaller farms and hatcheries mainly in the 'Spring' hatching season, with some hatching smaller numbers all the year round. If I went for more than four days without chick sexing work I started to have 'withdrawal symptoms'. Several of my students have expressed the same feeling when they have not sexed chickens for a week or so. A couple of my more sophisticated acquaintances have asked: 'How can you spend all your time just sitting there looking up chickens bums?' Part of the answer is a chick sexer has to always be living in
the present moment, I guess. With chick sexing you have to focus
solely on what you are doing all the time if you want to be very
accurate and fast, both essential if you want to keep your customers
and get highly paid. Also there is the satisfaction of being well
known for your accuracy in the industry: I think they call this
ego. I am sure there are other occupations that also require this
focusing skill. Learning to always live in the present moment has
benefits far beyond chick sexing. Another of the positive and lasting gains from my years as a chick sexer was the habit of self- discipline in every thing I do. You have to be fit and alert and have good eyesight and nibble fingers. Which for most chick sexers means no smoking, if you drink, it must be in moderation; also you tend to look after your health, even if only in a subconscious way. This can be said of all occupations, but for accurate chick sexers it is essential. There are no exceptions.
To be close to a 100% accurate at 800 to 1200 chickens per hour
for a long day; intuition comes in to play in many of your decisions,
even if you are not consciously aware of it. As one of my former
colleagues said to me when I was interviewing him for the book;
"There was nothing there but I knew it was a cockerel."
This was intuition at work. What is Intuition?Intuition is the state where your consciousness is no longer involved it? having to pay attention to the digestion of impressions and the actual working of your mind. In the same -way that you are totally uninvolved with the digestion of food when you are healthy, when you are completely free within from any emotional blockage, you are no longer involved with the mechanical working of the mind. Your mind can then perform its functions without your interference and work at its maximum efficiency and speed. When you are in that state, your mind immediately presents you with the exact information or knowledge you require, without you having to go through or follow the thinking process. This is called intuition. The mind works like a high-powered computer, giving the correct answer instantly. (End of extract page 98)
Years of desire to be a 100 percent accurate in my work required discipline, practice, practice, focusing and the trusting of my intuition. Skills we all have and can develop. Later in my life after chick sexing I also learnt the value of meditation and belief. A unique book with several surprises.My book covers the development of commercial chick sexing in Japan in the 1920s and 30s and the Japanese experts taking it to the rest of the world in the mid 1930s. It is a fascinating story even for those not in the poultry industry. Bernal Publishing has about 400 copies left of what I believe is the best book ever written on the subject. It has many interesting anecdotes, some surprises, it also has instructions on the various methods of sexing day old chickens and ducklings. I am a former chick sexer, poultry farmer, teacher and a reader of non-fiction from 'way back'; and I know it is a good book, a unique book; soon to be a collector's item. Many other chick sexers, poultry people, general readers, and universities throughout the world, have also found it a very good book. Once I set in motion the idea of writing a book on chick sexing and started my research I was readily given information from all over the world. I received help and encouragement from America, the United Kingdom, Belgium, Germany, China, South Korea, New Zealand, the Soviet Union, chick sexers from every state in Australia and my friends of the Zen-Nippon Chick Sexing Association in Tokyo and Nagoya. As researcher and writer of the book; one of the many pleasant surprises were the many complements I received from non-poultry readers. After reading it they were surprised at what a good book it was; I was surprised that they were surprised! People in North America can order "The Specialist Chick Sexer" from National Poultry
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