First Rehab. Trained Chick Sexer Completes Very Exacting Course

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 12, Issue 35, 6 April 1948, Page 8

First Rehab. Trained Chick Sexer Completes Very Exacting Course

The first ex-serviceman to complete a Rehabilitation-financed course as a chicken-sexer is Mr H. C. Paterson, who has been granted a chick-sexing certificate from the Department of Agriculture. To gain this certificate Mr Paterson sexed 200 day-old chicks in 40 minutes with an accuracy of 95 per cent. This is the minimum standard of accuracy set by the Department, which makes it hardly surprising that very few pass the annual certificate examination. Three entrants passed last year’s examination, and of these, two were ex-servicemen. The other exserviceman was Mr H. M. Hopson, who gained an accuracy mark of 96. Seldom do more .than three entrants pass in one year. Quite a common working speed is 500 chicks an hour, while one man is known to have attained a rate of 1,000 an hour. The chicks are fed to the operator in boxes, and he has, of course, to handle each chick individually. Seldom does he drop below an accuracy standard of 95 per cent.; if so, it is usually towards the end of the season, when the strain is beginning to tell. He works under a 250 watt lamp, and holds each chick about eight inches from it. Naturally his eyesight has to be good. It usually takes at least two complete seasons’ intensive training with a qualified instructor to become sufficiently proficient to apply for a certificate. Some take three seasons, others more.