How can you Tell the sex of your african grey

[Guest Sandy1]

Hi i been looking and probley not in the right area

But how can you tell what sex is your grey?

without having a vet check.

I heard it is something with the tail feathers and wondering if this is true or not

thanks

sandy B) :lol:

[Toni]

All that you hear of ways to tell dont always work. The only 99.9 % way to tell the gender is DNA. Sorry.

[Dave007]

You're in the right area. Toni's right. Checking feathers is very unreliable. Lots of stories about how to check them but at best, the results will be 75% wrong and the other 25% will be guess work. Some say that if you check the shape of the eyes (extremely almond shaped) it's a male. i have a female that has the most extreme set of almond shaped eyes. Cockatiels are really one of the few birds that can be accurately sexed by feather color or stripe.

[nevjoe]

If you get undressed and the bird finds interest, you will know.

 

Joe

[shazbaby36]

i got told the boy greys are darker then the female ones and my breeder was right because i had a dna test done and my boy one is darker then my girl one

[loviechick]

I've heard that the feathers are darker on boys once mature. I've also noticed that males heads are very flat(where as females have rounder) and their beaks are much larger in relative to their head size than a females. Also the feathers near the vents are supposed to be grey on the tips if it's a female, both mine have it and both mine are female! The only way for sure though is DNA sexing!

[judygram]

loviechick wrote:

The only way for sure though is DNA sexing!

 

 

And there it is in a nutshell..................:laugh:

[NerfGunWarHero]

Even if there are subtle difference between the males and females it would be hard to tell unless you had two right next to each other.

[Guest Sandy1]

Thanks all you have been so great B)answers were awesome.that what i would probley do when i can.I was told by somebody in a bird place and she said that mine was a female.so if that is so she will be a girl einstein LOl

thanks

sandy:laugh: B)

[Dave007]

HEY JOE!!!!!!

Undressed? Attraction??

 

As Flip Wilson used to say---

 

YOU DEVIL YOU:laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

[KatB]

Flip Wilson? Ah, Dave, what memories that evokes B)

 

Sandy, another way to tell -- if your grey lays an egg, it's a female. :laugh:

[lovemyGreys]

KatB wrote:

 

 

 

Sandy, another way to tell -- if your grey lays an egg, it's a female. :laugh:

 

 

{Feel-good-0002006E}

[Dave007]

KatB

Ah yes, what memories. I never missed that show. I so miss Geraldine saying that famous line while she walked down those steps with that cute, coy smile, eyes fluttering and then "You devil you" , with that devilish little grin afterwards. Oh yes, memories, great memories. 2 yrs ago, there was a marathon of his shows--3 days worth. About 120 episodes. I didn't sleep for those 3 days

[Tari]

Only way to know the sex of your grey is to have in DNA'd. Anything else is guessing.

[Kibibi]

"Greys are monomorphic which means they are visually difficult to tell the sexes apart. The opposite of monomorphic is dimorphic which is where the sexes are distinct which for example is the case with the Eclectus parrot. Statistically the male Grey is slightly larger but this is difficult to visually detect and not reliable. As you recall from above, variations across the wide range of the Grey's habitat lead to variations in size and color. This further complicates the ability to visually distinguish the sexes. However, there are sexual differences if you are able to compare Grey's from the same habitat. For example, the male Grey usually has a flatter and squarer head and relatively larger upper beak. Some experts claim the male is darker in color while others claim the female is darker in color. This is probably a result of comparing Greys from different geographical locations. As noted previously, Greys become lighter in color as you move east across Africa. There are other theories such as the feather color around the vent, which claims that males have solid red feathers in this region while females have a gray border.

 

Another theory is the shape of the iris. The male's iris is round while the female's iris is elliptical. One final theory is that the male has a solid colored chest while the female's chest gradually gets lighter as it moves from chest to tail. These are all very subtle differences and may be detectable by someone that handles a lot of Greys such as a veterinarian or breeder. If Greys from the same geographical location are compared then these minor differences may be detectable by experts. However, visually sexing a Grey isn't accurate even by the experts. As if Congo's weren't difficult enough to visually sex, the Timnehs are even harder. If you want to know the sex of your Grey, have no fear because there are reliable ways such as Laparoscopy (surgical/visual) and DNA (blood) testing that can accurately sex your African Grey."

 

This is a paragraph from an article about African Greys, the rest of the article is at the following link.

http://www.infosuperflyway.com/articles/wildone.php

[ziggy]

Hello,

The only way to tell 100% s with the dna from a avain vet. Like most have said all others are guess work. If you want the truth the vet is the only way.

[BMustee]

My greys father is a smaller grey and pretty light in color...his mother is one of the biggest and darkest I have ever seen so the color of the body is not the way to go for "guess" sexing.

 

My boy my be a girl because he does have the grey tips on the underside of the tail and his beak isn't as big as some of the baby greys at my work. If you ask me he looks just like is father.

 

I read into the tail sexing and it says that you can only go by that after the first molt.

[Toni]

So in other words if you're starting off w/ a baby grey all these so called ways of guessing are voided.Sooo go w/ DNA testing

[ziggy]

Yes Toni the only way to get the true results is by a avain vet. I say that because a regular vet will not know. You need to get the test done and the results will tell you for sure. The theries of feather and color or beak tests are not even close to telling you. I will say that most CAG are males. The females are alot harder to get. ( I dont know why but most are males). Like I said the only true way is to get it sexed by the vet. This test is very cheap it should not cost more then $30.00.

[HeatherStrella]

The breeder told us Harrison was male. The breeder said Harrison's eye/head shape was that of a male....we believed Harrison was male for 18 months....then we did a DNA test...Harrison is female. She already knew her name so she's kinda stuck with a male name.

[ziggy]

Heather this is a common mistake. The breeders unless they have it sexed they are shooting in the dark. Not bad odds tho 50-50.I will take those odds in Vegas.But all joking aside the true only way is through a DNA blood test. Sorry you were misleaded in believing she was a boy.

[dblhelix]

Properly performed DNA testing or surgical sexing are the only sure ways, short of your bird popping out an egg when sexually mature. DNA testing is really the best since its pretty cheap (~$30 US) and relatively non-invasive to the bird. As with all tests there is always the possibility of a lab error, but the chances are pretty low.

 

I am not sure if the info suggested on sex prevalance in CAGs is accurate or not. Only way I know of to tell would be a survey. Anyone want to put one together? Owners here that know the sex through confirmed means could participate.

[Toni]

yea thats how much it cost to DNA Alcazar, $ 30.00

[ziggy]

Hello,

Yes for $30.00 you will get the satisfaction you desire. It is rather cheap to find out the gender of your grey. Why have the guessing game its not like its 200.00. It is also a good thing so you can name the bird accordinly to the gender. You dont want Joey to really be Josey( no offence to your little Josey Judy) Just making a point. How about you wuld not want Michele to really be Michael. Better Judy:P

[Guest Sandy1]

thanks to all on the great replys

she/he is about 7yrs still a youngin so no egg(what age do they start laying?)

but i found one time on the net on there tail feathers if they have a black line in there red tail feathers they are a femaile.

thanks again

and oh ya flip wilson love that show in the day

miss it

sandy:)