I know that people like to post pictures of young birds for other members to guess gender... just want to clarify though- for newbies, especially-- that with certain popular breeds, ie, silkie and polish, the answers will be just that- a guess. I see so many posts about silkie chicks that are 8 -10 weeks or younger that get comments such as " that's a cockerel, it has streamers" or things of that nature. I don't care how experienced someone may be, it just isn't possible to positively tell the sex of all young chicks visually.. Here's a good example... in this pic, the cuckoo silkie chick on left would look to many like a cockerel because of feathering on head. The chick on right looks like a pullet for same reason. In fact, tho, the cuckoo is female, the other is male- per DNA test results which are 99.9% accurate.
It can be fun to guess at gender, and that's fine! I just wanted to remind folks to not take the guessing game too seriously. And for the times it is vital to know gender now rather than later, don't forget, DNA testing is easy and fast. a couple of drops of blood from a clipped toenail is all that's required ,sample wise- and the lab I use charges only $11. 99 per test. Results are available within a few days. They have a coop website with tons of info on DNA testing and other available diagnostics- check them out! Just enter
"IQ Birdtesting" under search to find the website for IQ Technologies.
It can be fun to guess at gender, and that's fine! I just wanted to remind folks to not take the guessing game too seriously. And for the times it is vital to know gender now rather than later, don't forget, DNA testing is easy and fast. a couple of drops of blood from a clipped toenail is all that's required ,sample wise- and the lab I use charges only $11. 99 per test. Results are available within a few days. They have a coop website with tons of info on DNA testing and other available diagnostics- check them out! Just enter
"IQ Birdtesting" under search to find the website for IQ Technologies.
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