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The DNA test kits I requested have arrived today. I have a blood card for collecting a few drops of blood and a tiny bag for freshly plucked feathers. Which of those two is the least uncomfortable? I read that it would require 5-7 plucked feathers for accurate results. That's quite a few. Which one did you guys use if you had your birds DNA sexed?

Thanks everyone!

I use the blood method.

I can't handle needles so get Shane to do it for me lol. That way HE is the baddie and I am the goodie in it all.
But seriously, when he gives them a quick jab with the needle, most of the time they don't even flinch. Tough little cookies.

pinkdevil wrote:I use the blood method.

I can't handle needles so get Shane to do it for me lol. That way HE is the baddie and I am the goodie in it all.
But seriously, when he gives them a quick jab with the needle, most of the time they don't even flinch. Tough little cookies.

I went with feathers. I pulled 7 i think. They said at least 5 is recommended just in case one or two of the feathers don't have enough DNA. I'm paranoid of anything that can make my birdies sick. Doing any unnecessary bleeding in a less than clean area increases chances for infection. I could have scrubbed the livin daylights outta my bathroom and went in there and clipped his nail enough to bleed. I didn't feel like spending an hour scrubbing my bathroom though. It's pretty bad right now.

SkyBaby wrote:

pinkdevil wrote:I use the blood method.

I can't handle needles so get Shane to do it for me lol. That way HE is the baddie and I am the goodie in it all.
But seriously, when he gives them a quick jab with the needle, most of the time they don't even flinch. Tough little cookies.

I went with feathers. I pulled 7 i think. They said at least 5 is recommended just in case one or two of the feathers don't have enough DNA. I'm paranoid of anything that can make my birdies sick. Doing any unnecessary bleeding in a less than clean area increases chances for infection. I could have scrubbed the livin daylights outta my bathroom and went in there and clipped his nail enough to bleed. I didn't feel like spending an hour scrubbing my bathroom though. It's pretty bad right now.

Oh, you had not got results yet. I though you sent them in already..lols

I dont have problems with either method, however I use the feather option.

Here we have two highly reputable comapies, MDS and DNAsolutions. Both require only 2 feathers an inch long or longer to be pulled from the bird.

The only time I will use blood is in very young chicks when banding them with solid stainless bands to decide which to pull out of the nest (caiques are a good example, leave the hens and pull the males, males are best as pets and hens best as breeding stock parent raised due to lacking numbers).

No feathers on birds that young, so blood is the only way.

It seems there is alot of confusion about the pain situation when it comes to pulling feathers. It might be worth people realising that any pain from either method is equal. Feathers are built to be safely removed and seal instantly up... blooding means piercing perfectly good tissue that was never meant to be pierced and can bruise the flesh/damage nerve endings if done wrong.

Both methods are equal in pain levels, both are perfectly acceptable IF both methods are done right, there are wrong ways to both sides I have never met a bird that held a grudge against this one time affair heh.

Fah wrote:I dont have problems with either method, however I use the feather option.

Here we have two highly reputable comapies, MDS and DNAsolutions. Both require only 2 feathers an inch long or longer to be pulled from the bird.

The only time I will use blood is in very young chicks when banding them with solid stainless bands to decide which to pull out of the nest (caiques are a good example, leave the hens and pull the males, males are best as pets and hens best as breeding stock parent raised due to lacking numbers).

No feathers on birds that young, so blood is the only way.

It seems there is alot of confusion about the pain situation when it comes to pulling feathers. It might be worth people realising that any pain from either method is equal. Feathers are built to be safely removed and seal instantly up... blooding means piercing perfectly good tissue that was never meant to be pierced and can bruise the flesh/damage nerve endings if done wrong.

Both methods are equal in pain levels, both are perfectly acceptable IF both methods are done right, there are wrong ways to both sides I have never met a bird that held a grudge against this one time affair heh.

I went with the feather method too. If I were to use the blood method, I wouldn't poke the bird with a needle. I'd simply snip the nail a bit shorter than usual to get a few drops of blood and put that on the card. The baby didn't even notice when I pulled out feathers. If he did, he quickly forgot about it with all those scritchies he got.

SkyBaby wrote:

Fah wrote:I dont have problems with either method, however I use the feather option.

Here we have two highly reputable comapies, MDS and DNAsolutions. Both require only 2 feathers an inch long or longer to be pulled from the bird.

The only time I will use blood is in very young chicks when banding them with solid stainless bands to decide which to pull out of the nest (caiques are a good example, leave the hens and pull the males, males are best as pets and hens best as breeding stock parent raised due to lacking numbers).

No feathers on birds that young, so blood is the only way.

It seems there is alot of confusion about the pain situation when it comes to pulling feathers. It might be worth people realising that any pain from either method is equal. Feathers are built to be safely removed and seal instantly up... blooding means piercing perfectly good tissue that was never meant to be pierced and can bruise the flesh/damage nerve endings if done wrong.

Both methods are equal in pain levels, both are perfectly acceptable IF both methods are done right, there are wrong ways to both sides I have never met a bird that held a grudge against this one time affair heh.

I went with the feather method too. If I were to use the blood method, I wouldn't poke the bird with a needle. I'd simply snip the nail a bit shorter than usual to get a few drops of blood and put that on the card. The baby didn't even notice when I pulled out feathers. If he did, he quickly forgot about it with all those scritchies he got.

Are you serious, Ani did not scream? You are lucky SkyBaby.

U.S Marine wrote:

SkyBaby wrote:

Fah wrote:I dont have problems with either method, however I use the feather option.

Here we have two highly reputable comapies, MDS and DNAsolutions. Both require only 2 feathers an inch long or longer to be pulled from the bird.

The only time I will use blood is in very young chicks when banding them with solid stainless bands to decide which to pull out of the nest (caiques are a good example, leave the hens and pull the males, males are best as pets and hens best as breeding stock parent raised due to lacking numbers).

No feathers on birds that young, so blood is the only way.

It seems there is alot of confusion about the pain situation when it comes to pulling feathers. It might be worth people realising that any pain from either method is equal. Feathers are built to be safely removed and seal instantly up... blooding means piercing perfectly good tissue that was never meant to be pierced and can bruise the flesh/damage nerve endings if done wrong.

Both methods are equal in pain levels, both are perfectly acceptable IF both methods are done right, there are wrong ways to both sides I have never met a bird that held a grudge against this one time affair heh.

I went with the feather method too. If I were to use the blood method, I wouldn't poke the bird with a needle. I'd simply snip the nail a bit shorter than usual to get a few drops of blood and put that on the card. The baby didn't even notice when I pulled out feathers. If he did, he quickly forgot about it with all those scritchies he got.

Are you serious, Ani did not scream? You are lucky SkyBaby.

Lol I know i'm uber lucky. No screaming.

How did you do it? Seriously. I can't understand, is it because Ani is real young, that he thinks you are its parent?

I knew I wanted to know about Zazu so I had the bredder do it. I knew they would have the most experiance doing it, too.
Plus then I wouldn't have been the bad guy.

I just don't want my bird screaming on me. First feather i tried to pull, Achilles let out a yelp. That was it from there.

U.S Marine wrote:How did you do it? Seriously. I can't understand, is it because Ani is real young, that he thinks you are its parent?

Um just plucked out one feather at a time from his chest until I had 7. He didn't even move. He just sat there and let me do it. He didn't really even notice. If anything he kept trying to step up cuz I had my finger at him and he knows what that means. It was so easy.

SkyBaby wrote:

U.S Marine wrote:How did you do it? Seriously. I can't understand, is it because Ani is real young, that he thinks you are its parent?

Um just plucked out one feather at a time from his chest until I had 7. He didn't even move. He just sat there and let me do it. He didn't really even notice. If anything he kept trying to step up cuz I had my finger at him and he knows what that means. It was so easy.

Hm, i tried at the back.. , maybe if i try the chest it will work?

U.S Marine wrote:I just don't want my bird screaming on me. First feather i tried to pull, Achilles let out a yelp. That was it from there.

aww poor little guy. I think the chest is a little less sensitive. That's where they recommend pulling them from anyways.

U.S Marine wrote:

SkyBaby wrote:

U.S Marine wrote:How did you do it? Seriously. I can't understand, is it because Ani is real young, that he thinks you are its parent?

Um just plucked out one feather at a time from his chest until I had 7. He didn't even move. He just sat there and let me do it. He didn't really even notice. If anything he kept trying to step up cuz I had my finger at him and he knows what that means. It was so easy.

Hm, i tried at the back.. , maybe if i try the chest it will work?

Yeah probably. Good luck!

I just requested my kit. I believe I will do the feather method also. It scares me to cut the nail. I cant wait to see what I have.

jeannier wrote:I just requested my kit. I believe I will do the feather method also. It scares me to cut the nail. I cant wait to see what I have.

Oh cool! Good luck! I have a little boy. I was fully expecting Anakin to be a girl for some reason.

Congrats on your boy! I am assuming that Skye is a girl? Are you going to breed them? I really want another one, not necessarily for breeding but just so Kiwi has someone. I cannot find them here. I did find some babies in Colorado we are planning on going down in August, so I will call to see if she still has them. There is a male in the sanctuary in Denver, but they like to do home visits, etc and I dont think they will come up here.