|
|
Post by christine on Apr 27, 2012 7:12:36 GMT 10
Hi, Going to see my Baby Grey tomorrow and feed him some. I was wondering how old do African Greys need to be to be sexed and what is the process? Thank you! Regards Montana  |
|
|
|
Post by avinet on Apr 27, 2012 9:12:20 GMT 10
Hi, Going to see my Baby Grey tomorrow and feed him some. I was wondering how old do African Greys need to be to be sexed and what is the process? Thank you! Regards Montana Sexing can be done by two methods. The first and older method is surgical sexing. The bird is given a brief anaesthetic by the vet and a small incision is made so an endoscope tube is inserted into the body cavity to see if there are ovaries or testes present. Sounds drastic but isn't - with a good vet it takes about 2 minutes, no bleeding and often not even a stitch needed. I have assisted my vet many times when getting birds sexed. The advantage of surgical sexing is that the vet can see if the sex organs are in good condition for breeding, or if there is a problem that might stop breeding. The disadvantage is the bird needs to be at least fully weaned, and preferably around 6 months old. For that reason, and given there is a slight risk that the bird may have a bad reaction to the procedure - my vet has around a 1 in 1,200 likelihood of death - for a pet bird I always recommend the alternative method and reserve surgical sexing for potential breeding birds. The other way is by DNA on a blood sample. A region of the DNA that codes for the sex of the bird is examined. The blood sample needed is just a single drop, and obviously a day old chick could be sexed by DNA if a blood sample can be obtained. In fact some will use the egg shell the chick hatched from which will have traces of the baby's blood on the inside, to get a sexing done. More normally the blood is taken after a few weeks, before fledging, when a prick is made on the toe of the baby and a drop of blood can be collected onto a sample paper supplied by the sexing company. Some will cut a claw short to get the blood sample but I prefer the prick on the fleshy part of the toe above the nail since I think it is less painful. DNA sexing can also be done if some feathers are plucked from the bird - the base of the feathers will have some dried blood and skin cells attached from which DNA can be extracted for the sexing. However DNA feather sexing has the reputation of being less accurate unless a blood feather is collected, so I prefer the toe prick blood sample method. After collecting the sample is simply posted off to the company doing the work. Cost in Australia for DNA sexing is around $20 depending on which company does it, and in the USA it may well be slightly cheaper. If you need information about DNA sexing companies in the USA let me know and I will ask around my American friends. Your breeder may well be able to organize it for you - or your avian vet can do the sample collection when you take the baby in for a check. cheers, Mike |
|
|
|
Post by christine on Apr 27, 2012 20:32:17 GMT 10
Hi, Thanks for all the info. I won't need the surgical testing since not planning on breeding. I guess the breeder can take care of the sexing process just wanted to know what was involved. Have a good day.
Regards Montana
|
|
