Silkie chicks DNA testing!

[RainbowRed]

After saying goodbye to three beloved s/r chicks that turned out to be roos, I’ve decided I can’t continue to bond with these babies until I know I can keep them. Since silkie chicks are notoriously difficult to sex until they either lay or crow, I’ve sent their feathers off to be DNA tested!
I’ll update with the results but for now here are a few pictures of my silkie babies and a few of them with their Faverolle siblings. Anyone care to make guesses before we find out?

 

[RainbowRed]

Update!!

I emailed about not understanding the wording (my bad) and they told me they’d call me when they received my sample. They received it Tuesday and I didn’t get a call until today, Friday. I decided to only test my three silkies since you all helped me figure out which of my other breeds are pullets and which are cockerels.
She charged me $22 for the first sample and $15 for each other sample so I paid a total of $52 for my three silkies. Not exactly cheap but I’m someone who bonds super strongly with my animals and I can’t imagine waiting months and months to figure out I can’t keep one or more of them. She said I won’t get the results for another week.
I just got another new little silkie babe so it looks like I’ll be sending her feather in as well soon! Although I’ll probably use a different lab since this one seems to take longer than some others I’ve read about online.
Anyway, there you have it! I’ll update with their sexes when I know next week!

 

[HeatherKellyB]

Oh my goodness! They're so adorable! I'm so excited for you. Good luck with guarding your heart while waiting on the results. At least you'll know with time. How long will it take to get the results? Is it expensive?

 

[Trisseh]

Out of curiosity, did they have a minimum age for accuracy? One of the labs I looked into did and that made me hesitant to use them. Lol.

I wound up sending a blood sample to HealthGene (I’m in Ontario) for my little cuckoo silkie. I also didn’t want to get super attached and then be stuck with a cockerel I didn’t want to keep. This particular lab accepts blood, feathers, or even egg shells as long as the membrane is still in it. I went with the blood because it was easier to cut a nail on a few week old silkie than try to get feathers out of it. They charge $15/test.

And it was a pullet! Yay! Haha. here she is, because she’s fabulous. Lol.

 

[LadiesAndJane]

Is there at home testing that you can buy?
Also can you aspirate fluid from a fertilized egg to test ?

No and no. Simply put. Sorry.
Cost about $15 per chick to get DNA testing. You can use the egg shell and membrane the chick came from if you have it, blood from a toenail or feathers. Have to be at least 4 weeks old for the feathers.

 

[HeatherKellyB]

Wow! How long will it take? Do you mind sharing more information? Thank you

 

[RainbowRed]

What company did you use? The one I used was $12/per test. I had 8 and 3 were female. The one we called loud bird, that I was sure was a male turned out to be female. She was renamed Sophia.

It was $22 for as many samples as I wanted!

 

[RainbowRed]

A

What company did you use? The one I used was $12/per test. I had 8 and 3 were female. The one we called loud bird, that I was sure was a male turned out to be female. She was renamed Sophia.

Accumetrics is who I used!

 

[rosemarythyme]

It was $22 for as many samples as I wanted!

Wow that's a good price, especially to cover all the birds.

 

[RainbowRed]

I got a new baby today! A buff silkie. He/she just missed the dna test so I guess I’ll have to send this one’s sample at a later date