How to Find Out What Your Bird's Sex Is
Determining the gender of your pet is usually as simple as taking a peek between their legs. If your pet is a bird, however, it isn't quite that easy. Unless pet owners purchase a presexed bird, it will be up to them to discover the gender of their bird. And while some birds give clear signs as to their sex (such as a female laying eggs), many owners will have to use other ways to determine their bird's gender.
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Instructions
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Determine whether or not you have a bird that can be sexed based strictly on its appearance. Certain bird species have telltale signs of being male or female once they hit maturity.
Budgies (also known as parakeets) have different colored ceres (the nose area above their beaks). Male budgies will have a blue cere, while females will have a pink or red cere.
Male gray cockatiels have yellow faces with bright orange circles, while female gray cockatiels have gray faces with dull orange circles.
Eclectus parrots are easy to sex: Males are green and females are red.
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Choose a sexing method you are most comfortable with if your bird's gender cannot be determined by appearance alone.
Your bird can be sexed using DNA testing, by collecting either a plucked feather or a drop of blood from your bird's nail. Either way, a kit is sent to you, and you return it with your sample.
Be sure to follow the instructions provided with your kit. If you decide to use blood from clipping your bird's nail, immediately pack flour on your the nail after the blood sample has been collected.
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Send your sample to the designated address for the DNA test. Be sure to touch the sample as little as possible to avoid compromising the sample.
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Tips & Warnings
Though surgical sexing is talked about and done by some vets, this method of examining a bird's reproductive organs can be stressful for your bird. Also, the required use of anesthesia in this procedure can lead to your bird's death. DNA testing is much safer.
References
Resources
- Photo Credit perruche budgie image by muro from Fotolia.com
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Comments
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Linda Beekman
Feb 07, 2011
i have found a method for sexing chickens that has been used for a long time. pick the bird up look at the anus area and gently pull downward if the opening is round it is a male if a slit it is a female. i have used this method for a long time and my family has used it for decades. simple and effective.
