DNA results for silkie sexing are in!!!

[realsis]

Thanks guys! Yes I dna sex all my silkies because I can't have males and had to rehome to many males last year. The dna sexing is ONLY ten dollars for 1 to 9 birds being sexed. very cheap. Its easy only takes a couple of chest feathers and takes about three days after the sample arrives at the lab. most breeders don't mind because I pay the ten dollars for sexing and if they are males the breeder knows the sex earlier than they would have known. In my case I tested 4 birds. 2 were female the other two male. The breeder looses nothing and actually benifits by knowing they are male. Its a great way to sex if you can't have males or don't want a bunch of roos. I'm counting down the days now! Its four more days till shipping!!! Mondays the big day! I just pray to God they arrive safely and healthy from the long trip. Thank you all for your support!!! Baby pics will be coming soon! I already love them!!! I got their feed and I'm all ready for the home comming!!! Please pray for the liitle ones safe trip without any problems!!

 

[Kelsie2290]

Those four more days will go fast! So hopefully you will have them next Wednesday? Will keep our fingers crossed for your little girls.
Neat about the DNA testing. Have had other animals DNA tested for one thing or another, but never chickens. Can see why gender testing would be really helpful with something like silkies who are so really hard to tell early. So yours were feather tested? How early is it usually done? So it is $10 a bird if less than ten birds are done?

 

[realsis]

Hi yes its 10 dollars for 1 to 9 birds at Accumetrics lab in canada. And yes I feather sexed. Which can be done very early in life. What you do is pluck with tweasers a few chest feathers. Making sure the feathers have the quill or white part attached. The cells are in the White area of the Feather. No shed feathers. They must be plucked for cells to be avaiable. First hatched you can use the egg shell or feather. It is extremely accurate.what you do is request a free sample kit or simply print out their sample paperwork and label in different envelopes each sample. You would identify each bird on each envelope containing feathers. Example buff silkie would be written for a buff.or you can identify with leg band colors if you had several of the same color birds examples would be like buff with red band buff with blue band ect. Then you put each envelope into a larger envelope with your information and mail it off regular or expedited mail. Once the sample arrives it takes two to three days for results. They email you the results and send free sex certification certificate. Which is nice if your selling the bird. I do recommend expedited shipping because they are in Cannada and the shipping takes the longest regular mail.you can call the lab for results also if your impatient like me ha ha. All in all its really a easy cheap expirence. Many think dna is expensive but in fact its very inexpensive. ACCUMETRICS lab is ONLY ten dollars NO TAX for up to Nine samples. Its a wonderful way to identify sex at a very early age. Hatchlings can use either eggshell or feather. The offer blood testing also but I feel its too hard on the little ones and much perfer feather sexing. The accuracy is the same as blood because they extract the cells from the feathers quill. I highly recommend about three or four feathers per sample inncase something happens to foul a feather . Three feathers have always worked for me and I've never had a foul sample. Just be certain the white part or quill of the Feather is present and don't use loose feathers. I hope this information is helpful. Its really the way to go to test your brood of babies. Then you will know the sex for certain and you won't have to keep guessing.its wonderful for breeders and owners alike. Espically for silkie owners because silkies are notoriously difficult to sex when babies!! Instead of having to wait months to know the sex you can find out right away. For me I can't have roosters and last year before I started dna I had to rehome many a rooster and its difficult to find homes for them so now I buy all my babies dna sex tested. most breeders go along with this because they also benifit by knowing they have males .I pay for the testing up front which is cheap. The breeders are really only out a couple of feathers. I will then purchase the females and breeder keeps the males. Its usually a 50/50 on percent of males to females. This last batch I was hoping for more females but I got two out of four babies tested. Its really a great tool for folks who don't want several roosters or can only keep female birds. Its fast easy and cheap and I highly recommend it to everyone!! Breeders and buyers alike. It was such a ordeal to home all those roos last year I started researching and found out about the dna testing. It sure saves a lot of trouble and heart ache of having to re home the males. Its really a great way to sex and very accurate. Hope this answers your questions. I wish you the best. Give it a try next time you need to sex. You will be suprised how easy it is.

 

[realsis]

Only two more days till they are shipped!! I can't wait!! I'm more excited every day! Please pray for a safe trip and that they arrive healthy and safely without any problems!!! I can't wait to post pictures of them for you all to see!!! I hope they arrive in one day!!! Oooh I'm soo excited!! Prayers please. They have a very long trip.

 

[stonecoldchey]

I'm sooo excited for you and I hope they have a safe trip home!

 

[realsis]

Thank you! I feel like a little kid at Christmas time!! Its been a long wait. I purchased the babies on the 3rd but with the DNA sexing and all then the breeder wanted to wait for cooler weather its been a long wait. I've been doing this little count down. its finally almost time. I just pray they arrive healthy and safely without any problems. Can't believe its finally almost shipping time!! I can't wait to show pictures to ya all! Both are going to be buff babies. One is the farthest buff on the right of the picture and the other I've not seen yet. They are 8 weeks old. That's a good age for shipping. I'm hoping. She said she will send them with plenty of food and fruit for water. They have a four hour truck trip to the airpirt then a four hour flight. So 8 hours. I just pray they handle the trip well. I'm very nervous and excited! I imagine wed morning I'll be picking them up. I'm wishing and hoping for tuesday. Breeder said she had shipped to my state before and even though they say two days its usually one. I sure hope so!! Thank you all for your support!! I'll keep you posted

 

[write2caroline]

They are Darling!! Safe passages and enjoy your babies!
Caroline

 

[realsis]

Thank you! The count down continues only ONE more day till shipping!!! They are supposed to be shipped tomorrow morning!!! I hope all goes as planned!!!!! Hearing there little peeps will be music to my ears!!! Just like Christmas eve!!! Lol..oooh I can't wait! gosh I pray it all goes well! Little birds have a long trip. Can't wait to get the call that they arrived!! God please let my babies arrive safely and healthy amen!!!

 

[TweetyNPetey]

How'd it go?

 

[realsis]

It went great!!! Thank you so much for asking!! The little ones were really thirsty when they arrived but after they ate and drank they were really happy!! They are so sweet and little. One is 5 weeks old and one is going on 8 weeks old. It was my first time getting chicks soooo far away. Little guys traveled over 1,000 miles from a small town called Shelbyville Illinois to my town in California!!I'm a hour and half outside Los Angeles. It took two days to get here. They arrived in the afternoon. They seem to be adjusting well. I have the sweetest mother hen silkie who took to the babes right away and the youngest sleeps under her. While her sister sleeps next to my hen. she's taken them under her wing and just loves them!! Believe it or not she has never pecked at them once!! She just took on the roll of Mother right away. My hen is really special and kind. Its so sweet to see them cuddle her. In fact they are still a bit scared of me and hide behind my hen when I come around. Its soo sweet how she adopted them as her own babies!! Here are some picts of them.