Can anyone visually tell gender?

[HeatherStrella]

Hi, when we got Harrison, the breeder was pretty sure he was a male due to his head size and eye shape. Recently, someone signed Harrison's Album guest book and said that he looked female. The next time we take Harrison for his annual vet visit, we're going to do the DNA check...just curious what you guys think...

 

 

 

Here's his album if you want to see more pics of him...

http://imageevent.com/heatheranddenis/congoafricangrey

 

Thanks for any input!!

Heather:)

[Guest briansmum]

the eye and head size theories check out sometimes, but there is no other way to be 100% positive than to have the DNA test. if i was to have a guess i'd say he looks like a boy to me, my little guy looks EXACTLY the same as the top one of harrison! :lol:

[Guest Monique]

Nah ... all the vets wouldn't DNA if there was some real good way to tell by looking at them. It's just guesses and wives tales .

[judygram]

Yeah you gotta pay the bucks and have the DNA test to determine sex.

[Talon]

DNA test is the only way.

[ZoesDad]

Hi HS,

Have a look at this link which shows the physical difference between two adult TAGs

 

http://homesteadshatchery.homestead.com/5timnehs.html

 

Pretty hard to tell them apart unless you already know who's who isn't it? I agree with the other posts re. DNA sexing.

[Talon]

Zoesdad, That was nice to see. I've never seen or heard of 2 greys that are bonded so well together. I thought that was pretty unusual... someone correct me if I'm wrong.

 

They are so cute together!

[Guest]

ZoesDad, off-topic, that site: "I can talk, can you fly?"

 

:woohoo: :laugh:

[raehamilton]

HeatherStrella,

 

Did you ever do a DNA test on Harrison?

 

I bought my first CAG on 5/17/07 and the breeder told me that she guaranteed 100% that my CAG is a girl. We went ahead and let our 8 year old daughter name her Angie. Well, my neighbor saw her when I brought her home and she said that she definately didn't look like her Ginie and that she looked more like a male. Then I took Angie to the Vet and he said that since Angie was so talkative (making bird noises) in front of him that he was sure that my Angie was a Male. I'd just about had it with hearing that Angie is a male so I told my VET that I wanted a DNA test done. The test came back and she is in fact a GIRL. I didn't care if she was a girl or a boy but I just wanted to make sure for medical reasons and so people would stop saying she was a boy. The breeder was so right and she told me that in 15 years she has yet to be wrong and she guarantees the sex even without DNA testing.

[judygram]

I wonder what she uses to determine the sex before DNA testing, what characteristics or whatever that tells her its a male or female? Thats pretty good guessing and especially if she guarantees it.

[raehamilton]

judygram,

 

She told me is the shape of their head and I think she mentioned a couple of other things. I am going to visit her on Tuesday and I will make a list of what she uses to tell the age of her CAG's. Up to this point I feel so lucky to have found this person. Every time I have a question about Angie I call them and they are more than happy to talk to me about it. She even ignored her other phone line ringing to finish her conversation with me yesterday. The Vet tech had bought a bird from her many years ago and he had nothing but nice things to say about her.

[Tari]

My Que is a female. I was told this by the breeder cause of her eye shape. I had her DNA'd and yep she is a she. But hey the chances were 50/50 she was right. lol

[judygram]

Raehamilton, sounds like you have someone who knows her stuff and is more than willing to help you with any problems you may have, you are lucky indeed. We here at the forum will help you all we can but we are amateurs at most, some are more knowledgeable, and a few are experts at it. Most of the time people who sell the birds think that after the sale you are on your own and don't bother me with anything.

I have heard that the shape of the head and the shape of the eye can tell the sex but it is not accurate, but if she has seen many over the years she may be able to tell, she has a keen eye for detail maybe. As far as age I know a baby has dark eyes that lighten up as they get older. She is good, really good and you are lucky to have found her.

[Talon]

Our breeder told us that she THOUGHT talon was a girl. We thought we had a boy, based on head shape and eyeshape.

After 1 1/2 years we found out thru DNA that we had a girl. SO you never know.

 

I think you are very lucky to have someone with such knowledge and willing to take the time to spend with you.

[HeatherStrella]

We will have his DNA checked the at his next annual visit. Thanks for all the replies!!

[cami]

It's really hard to say...when they are older (3 yrs plus) sometimes there are tell tale signs, but even those can be wrong. I think my 1 y/o is a male because of the way he started acting...most of my males are a bit nippier than my females. But at the same time, you never realy know. Even with DNA sexing, there have been mistakes, not alot but that's not always accurate. I had m ost of mine S/S and even when they were young it has proved (for me) to be accurate.

 

Good Luck

[raehamilton]

Has anyone in this forum ever had a DNA test that was wrong?

[Caspersmum]

Hey Rae,

 

I think the lab people would have to be really dumb to get it wrong. The DNA testing looks at the whole chromosomes - Sex is determined by a pair of chromosomes. In birds, male birds have two Z chromosomes, and the females have a Z and a W. They're very different in size - so if there are two sex chromosomes the same size, it's a boy, and if they're different sizes its a girl - this is the opposite way round to humans - I tried to understand why, but my brain hurts!

 

Julia

[raehamilton]

Julia,

 

Thank you so much for your response and I agree with you. I just don't like to be second guessed and if a Doctor tells me that the DNA test confirmed Angie is a girl then she is in fact a GIRL.

[mandiskem]

they say to have alook around the eyes if there is light blue or dark blue u can normally tell what sex it is .

[judygram]

Well that is a new one on me, Mandiskem, light blue or dark blue tells the sex, anyone else out there got an idea if this is true?:side:

[Tari]

Wow someone opened up an old post. lol Still interesting to read. I had a DNA on mine but suspected she was a girl before I did it. Just a feeling. :lol:

[Talon]

Judy, after what I went through with Talon's girl/boy story, I am a non-believer in anything but a DNA test!

[birdgranna]

My breeder said my blue crown was a female by visual assessment because of head shape, eyes yada yada. Well, Lucy is a boy per DNA so I don't believe any one can visually sex these parrots that are coloured the same. My male grey is smaller, darker, has a flater head and not even half the vocab of my female grey. My female looks just like the pictures of Harrison! Go figure.

[Guest Lidia]

When I first met Joshua he was with a sibling, a sister, and you could see, when they were together, that he was more sturdily built than she, his shoulders were broader, his head bigger and more square.

But looking at him compared to other AGs on this site, there is no way to tell by sight. I think there is no set 'rule'. Mind you, Joshua has never been DNA'd, so I suppose he could be female. But I don't think so. he has a kind of male 'vibe'. That's not very scientific, I know, sorry.