Chickens have belly buttons!

[staceysue]

Wow - we're hatching chicks in an incubator for the first time. The chicks actually have umbilical cords which attach to yolk sacs, which attach to membranes attached to the shells . . . . . very much like a human placenta but instead of lining a uterus it lines a shell. Umbilical cords attach to belly buttons - so therefore chickens must have belly buttons!

Never know what you're going to read on a cycling forum, eh?

[TxDoc]

You own little chickens? Post pictures, please!!!
Don't know why, but I really like chickens... :)

[GLC1968]

You mean like this one?

http://i631.photobucket.com/albums/uu34/GLC1968/hatchedchick.jpg

Newly hatched chick - White Leghorn father, Rhode Island Red mother.

We incubated 7 of our own birds this year. They all hatched on Valentine's day. :)

[malkin]

Awwww!

We had chicks when I was a kid. Sweet to snuggle one in 2 cupped hands and watch its head nod down as it falls asleep.

[smilingcat]

They grow up so fast though...

GLC, have you sexed the chick yet? Checking through the vent.

[Biciclista]

haha Smilingcat you're funny.. Do you know how to discern the diff between a male and a female chick by checking through the vent?

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Too cute!
I used to have ducks. :p
I thought you had that chick on a baby blanket at first- then I realized it was a paper towel. lol!

[GLC1968]

Ours were born in Feb - and we didn't sex them then because it really didn't matter to us. Boys become meat birds, girls become layers so we figured we'd just wait.

If I tried to sex them now, I'm sure they'd make me bleed my own blood! ;)

We are pretty sure that we ended up with 4 pullets and 1 cockrel just based on size/features.

[malkin]

*just went back, and now have to giggle at the "olive on a toothpick" and "cocktail onion" bably blanket*

If there were any babies around here, that's the blanket we'd surely have!

[smilingcat]

haha Smilingcat you're funny.. Do you know how to discern the diff between a male and a female chick by checking through the vent?

Yes you can sex the chicks through their vent. A pro can properly sex a bird with better than 95% accuracy. Someone like me would get it right about 75% of the time.

just don't try this method backyard chickens.com (too funnyy) (http://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=36320)

The way I was told to flip the bird upside down and gently squeeze the body so the poop and stuff is excreted, then "open" the vent a bit and look inside. roos have pee-pees of sort. pullets don't

oh just did a search on google and returned this to me pullet/roo? (http://scienceblogs.com/twominds/2008/04/how_to_sex_a_chick.php)

And oh there is a link to dirtiest job video.

hmmm the latter link says a pro can do it with better than 98% accuracy at a rate of 1000 chicks an hour. :eek:

[malkin]

Am I the only one that thinks it's funny that smilingcat is posting about checking baby chick vents?

[staceysue]

I don't think I want to check their vents. The belly buttons were enough for me.

[TxDoc]

Oh my God that is soooo cute!!!
:)

[arielmoon]

Yet people eat them when they grow up. :(