| Caring For Your New Bird | NetPets® |
TELLING THE GENDER
Your bird will go through a molt of its juvenile feathers between 6 and 12 months of age, depending on the species. The breeder who sold you the bird may have had the baby sexed before selling to you. If so, you should have received a certificate or letter stating the sex. If not, the breeder should be able to help you find out if there are any distinguishing marks to tell males from females in that species. In many birds, there are no external marks or ways to tell gender visually. To sex birds like this, you need to perform some sort of medical test. There are several methods used to determine gender.
Blood sexing requires a couple drops of blood out of the bird's toenail, and a laboratory actually looks at the DNA in the blood to determine gender. This method is quite safe and relatively painless, but it takes 2 weeks to get results.
Feather sexing requires two growing blood feathers, and examines the chromosomes in the feather tissue to determine the sex of the bird. This method needs a steady hand to pull out those feathers, but is almost painless for the bird. Results take about 2 weeks.
Surgical sexing requires that the bird be put under anesthesia. A small incision is made in the bird's side, and a scope is inserted into the incision. The veterinarian actually looks at the sex organs through the scope. Results are immediate, but there is always some danger to the bird from the anesthesia, and from post-operative complications. I recommend the feather sexing, or the blood sexing methods when it's time to get your bird sexed.
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