Silkie chicks DNA testing!

[rosemarythyme]

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

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

 

[the_peep_squad]

How did you get the feather samples? I saw that company when I did my research, but I was worried about not pulling out feathers right and having to do it several times or sending in samples that wouldn't work. In the end, quicking one nail seemed the easiest, least painful way. Blood samples are more expensive.

 

[LadiesAndJane]

How did you get the feather samples? I saw that company when I did my research, but I was worried about not pulling out feathers right and having to do it several times or sending in samples that wouldn't work. In the end, quicking one nail seemed the easiest, least painful way. Blood samples are more expensive.

I just pulled a couple of feathers out of their lower abdomen area. They squawked a bit, but it wasn’t really a big deal. Wore gloves and changed them between each chick and was careful not to mix up any other feathers or other biological material into the individual bags.

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

fantastic price! I paid $13 each plus expedited shipping for mine! Still thought it was worth it though!

 

[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.

 

[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

 

[noahs_flock]

I got s new baby today! They just missed the dna test so I guess I’ll have to send this one’s sample at a later date

Is it hard to pluck feathers on a day-week old chick? I plan to submit feathers of about 30-40 chicks.

Cute girl!

 

[RainbowRed]

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

They didn’t! Mine are 3 1/2 weeks so fingers crossed that’s fine haha
I just got a day old silkie chick today and I couldn’t imagine plucking her feathers just yet. Maybe in a few weeks I’ll send hers (hopefully) off.

 

[RainbowRed]

Is it hard to pluck feathers on a day-week old chick? I plan to submit feathers of about 30-40 chicks.

Cute girl!

30-40 chicks would take a long time! I had 7 birds I plucked and that took about half an hour. They requested several feathers per bird and I washed my hands between each sample and made sure to label and seal each sample as I went so it took some time. 30-40 birds would be quite a chore!

 

[NatJ]

Anyone care to make guesses before we find out?

I'll guess male for the one in the middle of the first photo.
Light colored, has a band on the left leg, band is some shade of blue/green.

I'll guess female for the other light one, and male for the dark one with the single comb. (A single comb on a silkie seems odd, but that's what it looks like to me.)

 

[NatJ]

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

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

Do you have a link to that?
I've just been googling, and I can't seem to find the right page.