Silkie chicks DNA testing!

[LateBirdFarms]

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.
View attachment 2394851

Would HealthGene's test be he avian sexing? I had no idea we had a testing centre so close! They all came up as American companies when I was looking to get my silkies tested, but they listed their tests separately from their avian section as poultry testing. I wonder if they would allow a sample dropped off...

 

[Trisseh]

@AltonaAcres exactly as @NatJ said! eggshell sent after hatching. I’m assuming this option is there primarily for the cage birds as it’s probably a bit easier for one to keep track of who came from what egg, and for those who don’t want to pluck or cut a nail.
@LateBirdFarms their website was confusing to me too! But I couldn’t find anywhere that said otherwise, and a bird is a bird so... haha. I had looked up DNA testing through AHL at Guelph and they send them on the HealthGene so I went ahead and did it. Cheaper to send it directly myself. Lol. They were fast, the process was easy, and the cost not too absurd, although it would add up if doing a lot of birds.

 

[NatJ]

Guys... I can confirm, $22 TOTAL. For feather and egg ONLY. Website words confusing but checkout process confirms.

I put "feather" in the shopping cart, and viewed the cart to see one in the cart.
So I changed the number to "4" and clicked "update cart"-- $88 for 4 feather samples.
(I'm not placing an actual order, because I don't have any chickens to sex right now.)

And I thought the words were very clear:
$22 / sample means $22 for each sample (= each bird)

"regardless of quantity" just means that no matter how many birds you are doing, the per-sample (per-bird) price does not change.

 

[NatJ]

"regardless of quantity" means you can have multiple samples from the same bird.

I think "regardless of quantity" for the feather samples just means that no matter how many samples (birds), the per-sample price doesn't change.

Considering that the blood samples DO change price depending on how many samples you submit, it's reasonable to clarify that the feather samples don't work that way.

Pricing for the blood samples:
SINGLE SAMPLE - $22.00
2- 4 SAMPLES -$15 EACH
5 OR MORE SAMPLES - $10 EACH

 

[Miami Leghorn]

Thank you so much!
it only cost $22 for me to test them all! I did also pay shipping but that’s only because I didn’t want to wait for their little prepaid kit they send you because I’m impatient haha

Hello.
Could you please post the link to their website?

 

[RainbowRed]

I think "regardless of quantity" for the feather samples just means that no matter how many samples (birds), the per-sample price doesn't change.

Considering that the blood samples DO change price depending on how many samples you submit, it's reasonable to clarify that the feather samples don't work that way.

Pricing for the blood samples:
SINGLE SAMPLE - $22.00
2- 4 SAMPLES -$15 EACH
5 OR MORE SAMPLES - $10 EACH

That makes sense. Oops!
I assume they will contact me on Wednesday when they receive my samples and request more payment. If that’s the case I will ask that they only test the 3 silkie samples I sent in since I believe the other breeds I sent in will be easy to sex soon enough.

 

[AltonaAcres]

@Trisseh ........................... OH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That makes SO much sense now

 

[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!

 

[RainbowRed]

Results are in!! And as most of us guessed the little black silkie as well as the white silkie with the green leg band are roos. I’m so sad but I prepared myself this time!
thanks for coming along this journey with me haha

 

[LadiesAndJane]

Results are in!! And as most of us guessed the little black silkie as well as the white silkie with the green leg band are roos. I’m so sad but I prepared myself this time!
thanks for coming along this journey with me haha

Hi, just seeing this now. Sorry your two ended up as roos. Hope you were able to find home for them!