What age can I dna sex my silkies

[Mcook512]

I just got my day old silkies today. I want to dna sex them because I’m not keeping any males. I would like to do it as soon as possible because it is 1-2 week turnaround and I don’t want to get TOO attached before I have to give them away. At what age can I do the blood sample for the dna gender test? They are so tiny right now, I’m not sure how big a sample I could even get.

 

[TheOddOneOut]

What do you mean, DNA test?

 

[Mcook512]

What do you mean, DNA test?

IQ Bird testing. Send in a blood or feather sample and they will tell the gender of your bird. Since Silkies are so hard to sex, this will be the best way to tell male/female at a very early age.

 

[TheOddOneOut]

IQ Bird testing. Send in a blood or feather sample and they will tell the gender of your bird. Since Silkies are so hard to sex, this will be the best way to tell male/female at a very early age.

Oh! I had no idea. Can you do it with just fluff from the feathers?

 

[Mcook512]

Oh! I had no idea. Can you do it with just fluff from the feathers?

I don’t think so because you have to pluck the feather and get the entire shaft to test dna. I don’t think I could pluck any of the fluff. Cutting toenails seems to be the easiest way. I watched a few YouTube videos and it looks pretty simple.

 

[Matilda Belle]

I think iqbirdtesting suggests waiting until they are 3 weeks of age. It says in their website.

 

[SophiaNerina]

I just got my day old silkies today. I want to dna sex them because I’m not keeping any males. I would like to do it as soon as possible because it is 1-2 week turnaround and I don’t want to get TOO attached before I have to give them away. At what age can I do the blood sample for the dna gender test? They are so tiny right now, I’m not sure how big a sample I could even get.

Hi! Did you ever end up taking a blood sample? I want to take mine within the first 1-2 weeks as well since I can’t keep any roos either.

 

[Mcook512]

Sorry for the late reply. I did a blood sample from clipping the toenail into the quick. I did this as day old chicks & got enough for a sample. Now they are 12 weeks old, and the dna didn’t lie. 4 boys & 2 girls

Hi! Did you ever end up taking a blood sample? I want to take mine within the first 1-2 weeks as well since I can’t keep any roos either.

 

[Trisseh]

I just collected a sample from my little cuckoo silkie (3 weeks old) to send off because I too get too attached to my birds too quickly and I definitely don’t need more cockerels. simple enough to do, I also used the toenail and the bird didn’t seem to even notice. Couple drops on the paper pad and away it can go. The lab that my sample is going to is HealthGene, as I am in Ontario. I was going to start a new thread but saw this one and just thought I’d throw mine in here too. Haha. Apparently egg shell is also an option as long as there is membrane still inside? I guess that’s kind of like testing off of placenta in other animals...
Either way, I would much rather know sooner than later. I’ve got a 20 week old silkie that I truly had no idea what it was until this week when it decided to start squatting for me and has pelvic bone changes happening. That’s too long to wait for me! Haha.

 

[charlotte-and-the-bees]

Sorry for the late reply. I did a blood sample from clipping the toenail into the quick. I did this as day old chicks & got enough for a sample. Now they are 12 weeks old, and the dna didn’t lie. 4 boys & 2 girls

How much blood did you have to get from the littles?