# Why Would Oliver "Green Acres" Douglas Need Sexed Chickens? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 19, 2011, 11:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-oliver-green-acres-douglas-need-sexed-chickens/606727 "2011-12-19T11:12:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![BeaMyra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/2bfe46/32.png) [@BeaMyra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BeaMyra)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2011, 11:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-oliver-green-acres-douglas-need-sexed-chickens/606727/1 "2011-12-19T11:12:07Z")
I was watching “Green Acres” on Hulu and Oliver decides to raise chickens. He goes to Druckers and orders baby chicks. > [@](#): > > Mr Drucker: So that’s 1,000 baby chicks, do you want them straight run or sexed? > > Oliver) Sexed > > Lisa) Why do you want sexy chickens? > > Oliver) Sexed not sexy OK, is there a reason for this or is it just for the joke? It’s my understanding that sexing chickens means grouping them into male and female chicks. The males are then culled. So why would Oliver buy chicks only to have them killed? Is there a reason or was it just for the joke? ---
**Author:** ![Alley\_Dweller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alley_dweller/32/430_2.png) [@Alley\_Dweller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alley_Dweller)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2011, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-oliver-green-acres-douglas-need-sexed-chickens/606727/2 "2011-12-19T11:38:33Z")
If you order “sexed chickens” you get to specify which sex you want. [Like this](http://www.mcmurrayhatchery.com/new_hampshire_reds.html) or [like this](http://www.mypetchicken.com/catalog/Day-Old-Baby-Chicks/Assorted-Silkie-Bantams-p681.aspx). “Straight run” means you get a random mixture. ---
**Author:** ![Eureka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/74df32/32.png) [@Eureka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eureka)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2011, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-oliver-green-acres-douglas-need-sexed-chickens/606727/3 "2011-12-19T12:53:49Z")
If you are going to be raising chickens with the goal of having eggs, you want more girl chicks than boy chicks. So if you get the straight run chicks, you will probably end up killing the boy chicks yourself as they grow up. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2011, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-oliver-green-acres-douglas-need-sexed-chickens/606727/4 "2011-12-19T13:01:33Z")
I know nothing about raising chickens but I’ll bet that if you mix males and females you will get fertilized eggs. Is that desirable for egg farming (as opposed to raising chickens for meat)? ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2011, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-oliver-green-acres-douglas-need-sexed-chickens/606727/5 "2011-12-19T13:22:53Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#): > > I know nothing about raising chickens but I’ll bet that if you mix males and females you will get fertilized eggs. Is that desirable for egg farming (as opposed to raising chickens for meat)? You want one male and a bunch of females per henhouse for this purpose. If you have two males, they will fight each other instead of procreating. If the chicks aren’t sexed ahead of time, you’ll be spending money to feed a bunch of males you’ll have to destroy or watch kill each other when they mature. ---
**Author:** ![Prelude\_to\_Fascination](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a183cd/32.png) [@Prelude\_to\_Fascination](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prelude_to_Fascination)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2011, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-oliver-green-acres-douglas-need-sexed-chickens/606727/6 "2011-12-19T15:03:55Z")
I’ve no doubt everyone’s right about the farming, and that probably played a part, but c’mon, this is _Green Acres_ we’re talking about, where a lot of the fun was Lisa’s misunderstanding of English. Spinal Tap made the same sort of joke in TIST when they were talking about the sexist album cover, and Nigel said, “What’s wrong with being sexy?” “Sex-_ist_, not sexy!” So I think the exchange was put in so Lisa could say her line about sexy chickens, which is absurd and therefore is the joke. ---
**Author:** ![svd678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/53a042/32.png) [@svd678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/svd678)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2011, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-oliver-green-acres-douglas-need-sexed-chickens/606727/7 "2011-12-19T21:14:00Z")
You don’t want roosters in the hen house. Fertilized eggs spoil quicker than unfertilized. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2011, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-oliver-green-acres-douglas-need-sexed-chickens/606727/8 "2011-12-19T21:52:23Z")
> [@Prelude\_to\_Fascination](#): > > So I think the exchange was put in so Lisa could say her line about sexy chickens, which is absurd and therefore is the joke. a whole Lucy episode could be made around one misunderstood word. not as highbrow back then.