Do you bother sexing?

[Grenage]

Hi there,

We've had our GCC for three and a half years; the original breeder stated that the bird was male - but didn't have any certificate or proof from the company he used. We chased him up a few times but he got vague and stopped communicating.

So we don't really know the sex, and for all I know - the bird was 10 years, not 10 weeks old when we brought it home.

I don't really care about the age, and I don't really care about the sex - but do I need to know? I have no intention of getting another bird, and don't want to pluck feathers or draw blood without good reason.

Opinions appreciated!

 

[Psittaciformes]

I wanted to sex Kiwiberry, but I never got round to it. I kinda wish I had but IMO it's not really essential, unless you're planning to breed, for which you'd optimally want a male and a female for the best results lol

Doesn't your GCC have a band that says when (s)he hatched?

 

[Grenage]

Hi there!

That's good to know; I wasn't sure if any avian medications might be gender-dependent, so thought I should check.

He does have a wristband, and I've got the numbers written down somewhere - but I don't recall a date. I'll have to double-check when I get home.

 

[Psittaciformes]

Hmmm That's a good point, I didn't think of that, maybe someone after me will chime in on that.

Well it should at least say what year (s)he was born

 

[Parrot1]

i haven't yet with mine but that's cus i'v had him for 2 weeks..

but i think I've read somewhere that it's good too know if their a female
too help with future illnesses like egg bindings and abdomen problems? and males
can have cancer i think..

and about the ID Band...it should have the year the bird was hatched. and the
breeders initials..

 

[SilverSage]

YES I sex every bird, breeder or pet, young or old. Why? In avian medical emergencies, seconds can be the difference between life and death, and knowing the gender can instantly rule out certain things, saving time and money, and potentially the life of your bird. It's cheap and easy and my birds honestly barely seem to notice the discomfort of the procedure. $20 from avian biotech, a quick snip or pluck, a few days, and you have your answer. Very very worth it. In addition it can aid you in proving ownership of your bird should the need arise and ownership be disputed. For example, heaven forbid your darling baby escapes and someone finds a bird matching the discription, but two people claim it is theirs. If you know your bird's gender, the bird can be tested for that identifying factor.

The benefits of knowing the gender far outweigh the cost to you and your bird. I have even had budgies sexed when the mutation made it hard to tell based on cere color and I wasn't confident in my determination. That's right, I paid more for the sexing than I did for the bird. It is so easy and so beneficial, I consider it very important and I highly encourage you to find out the gender of your bird for their own safety, regardless of intent to breed.

 

[SilverSage]

Also, breeders follow different formats for banding. Many, like myself, do use the year on the band, however many do not. Also, my birds bear the initials of my aviary, not my initials, and some birds bear a seemingly random code assigned by a certain avian club based on species. It is highly adviseable to look on the band for a year, because the age of the bird can be important in vet situations as wel, however it wouldn't be shocking if he year does not appear. Depending on species and your breeder, they may actually rely on COLOR instead of a printed date to denote the hatch year.

 

[Grenage]

Ok, I am convinced!

Now to decide on the least traumatic method; when we'd only been together a couple of months, I clipped his nails and he flinched - leading to too much coming off, and blood. I absolutely crapped myself.

I've since purchased some styptic powder, just in case, but it's not been required. Is there a sensible way of getting judging how far you can safely clip? I'm really not sure my little dude could stand my plucking 5-7 feathers out of his chest.

 

[Hawk]

YES I sex every bird, breeder or pet, young or old. Why? In avian medical emergencies, seconds can be the difference between life and death, and knowing the gender can instantly rule out certain things, saving time and money, and potentially the life of your bird. It's cheap and easy and my birds honestly barely seem to notice the discomfort of the procedure. $20 from avian biotech, a quick snip or pluck, a few days, and you have your answer. Very very worth it. In addition it can aid you in proving ownership of your bird should the need arise and ownership be disputed. For example, heaven forbid your darling baby escapes and someone finds a bird matching the discription, but two people claim it is theirs. If you know your bird's gender, the bird can be tested for that identifying factor.

The benefits of knowing the gender far outweigh the cost to you and your bird. I have even had budgies sexed when the mutation made it hard to tell based on cere color and I wasn't confident in my determination. That's right, I paid more for the sexing than I did for the bird. It is so easy and so beneficial, I consider it very important and I highly encourage you to find out the gender of your bird for their own safety, regardless of intent to breed.

That is so true, you wouldn't think it would matter but it really does.
My wife is a former vet, and says YES it does matter significantly about the sex when it comes down to certain medication.

A female having egg or ovary problems, you wouldn't want to spend time trying to determine sex at a time like that. Good post.

 

[SilverSage]

As don't use styptic poweder, I use flour if I use anything as all, because every time I use something like that, the bird eats it! Honestly once the thing is done I put the bird back in the cage to calm down and the bleeding stops as long as I haven't cut too far.

As for safely clipping, I like to use a dremmel instead of a clipper, but that takes practice. If you are going to clip, I suggest having someone else hold the bird securely, and you shave off the tiniest amount, bit by bit, until you see a small drop of blood. There is also the option to have a vet or local bird person with more experience do it for you. I provide this service for free, one of the pet stores here does it for like $30. You can probably find someone near you if you want

 

[Grenage]

My partner can hold him, so it's not too bad -I'll just have to do it a small amount at a time, as you suggest.

A dremel is off the table as noises such as hoovers/electric toothbrushes etc scare the hell out of him. He' normally ok with the clips once you've got him secure!

 

[Grenage]

Well I stand corrected; his ring reads: P 20 CJR, and then a sideways 12, which must be the year.

 

[SilverSage]

In that format the year very likely is what that means.

 

[RavensGryf]

Dani (SilverSage) has excellent posts here on the topic. Definitely important reasons to know gender. But besides that, I personally just like to know. I think it would bother me if I had no idea if my pet companion was male or female, but that's just me.

Out of my current flock, Raven the Pionus is the only one who is not sexually dimorphic. The 2 Pois are different color as male and female after the first molt, and the budgies you can tell by the cere. Raven (and Griffin) had the DNA tests done by the breeders.

If I needed a DNA sexing test in the past, I usually have the vet do it during the new bird visit. I did use Avian Biotech and did it myself once with the feathers. After a while with birds, you will be more confident what you feel you can do yourself. In the past I have plucked feathers, cut nails (accidentally too far) and used styptic, had to restrain and use hemostats on broken blood feathers close to the skin and yank it out (painful but emergency), I've even had to learn to give injections in the breast muscle twice a day for a week as I wasn't going to take him to the vet and drive an hour twice a day for a week obviously... and everyone was okay . As Dani has said, really, they really don't flinch for a tiny bit of blood off a nail, or a few feathers.

 

[Grenage]

Thank you for the reassurance, I shall get it done!