Gender?

[briloop]

I have a peach face lovebird, about 3 years old. We don't know his/her gender. We have been told that we would have to have a blood test done to find out. Is there another way to determine gender? Thanks.

[LovelySydney]

Without a DNA blood/feather test there is no 100% way to determine gender. There is a very cheap way to do this if you don't want to pay $85 (that's what my vet charges) at your pet clinic. There are some sites online, avianbiotech.com is the one that first comes to mind, I know there is another - that will give you a collection kit for free and they charge I think a $25 fee to process. It's all very accurate.

[linda040899]

LovelySydney is correct.

Unless your lovebird lays an egg, DNA sexing is the only way to determine gender. While there are other methods, they are a guess and you have a 50% chance of being correct.

My choice for DNA sexing is Avian Biotech ( http://www.avianbiotech.com ). You can order sexing kits online at no charge and I believe the blood test is $19.95. Feather sexing is a bit higher. When I can take the samples myself, I will save the money I would paid my avian vet to do the test and buy a few toys for my birds! :)

[briloop]

Thanks for the responses.

[Angelic vampyre]

I agree with the others but you can also check the pelivic bones the further apart they are the most likely you have a hen but again really unless the hen has laid eggs even an older hen can be very close. I have some three year old hens that i did not bother to DNA as I could put a finger between their bones and I have another one who i would have sworn was a hen and she laid and egg so it's a bit of a hit and a miss

[linda040899]

Some males actually do have pelvic bone structure that is very different than those of a hen but it's not every male but I've been right each time I've felt a lovebird with this particular kind of pelvic bones. I've DNA sexed a few and each one held true as male but it's very hard to describe so when I pass on this information, it's got to be hands on.........

[alifess]

If the bird doesn't lay eggs for a few years, wouldn't that mean it's a boy? Or do some hens never lay eggs?

[linda040899]

I've had hens that just never laid eggs.

[dieflying]

i think there are actually some members whose birds didn't lay eggs for the longest time. can be a bit of a shock when you've suddenly got eggs on your hands!

[Mummieeva]

Yes, we have a member whos bird surprised her with a egg at I believe it was 5 years old(might of been older).



Steph