| DNA
Sexing from blood, feather or eggshell is the safest way
to determine the sex of your bird from any age. Up to the minute state
of the art methods are used to give an accuracy rate of greater than
99.99%. The extracted DNA from your sample is loaded into a ‘gel’
and a small electrical current draws the DNA through the gel revealing
specific chromosomes. Males are ZZ chromosomes, and Females are ZW. |
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Gel Picture
to the left showing what we see in the labs. Female show as two
bands (ZW) and males show as one band (ZZ).
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Preparation
of Blood Samples
Avian blood samples are generally collected from the end of a toenail.
It is recommended that one person catches the bird and another takes
the blood sample. Restrain the bird (using a towel or something
to wrap around the bird) and clean off any obvious dirt. Then clip
the toenail (starting at the tip) until a drop of blood is seen
to form (you may have to let the bird relax). When the drop of blood
has formed, hold one end of the glass
capillary tube (from the blue container) to the drop and the blood
will draw into the tip. Place the capillary tube containing the
blood into the solution in the collection tube, replace the screw
cap and shake to disperse the blood from the capillary into the
solution. Wrap the peel-off Label ID/Species sticker around each
tube, joining the two ends together. Bleeding from the toenail should
stop in a few minutes, however a blood coagulate may be used to
speed up the process. Cornflour is a good alternative. Please note
we recommend that blood taken from any bird should be done via your
local vet.
Important: If more than one sample is being taken, ensure thorough
cleanliness is observed, whasing hands and nailclippers betwwn each
bird to avoid any cross contamination between birds and samples.
Blood samples to be returned to us in a padded envelope please.
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Blood
Cards
Place blood droplet into circle on the card and allow to dry, place
card back into plastic bag. Cards can be returned in letter envelopes. |
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Feather
Samples
We are able to use feathers for sex determination as long as they
are freshly plucked. When sending feathers simply place the whole
feather - preferably three or four from the chest - into the sealable
plastic bags supplied and stick the label ID/Species sticker on the
outside. Please note: only one bird to one bag...thankyou. Feathers
can be returned to us in an ordinary letter envelope.
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Summer special DNA
Testing Prices!
1 to 5 samples, Sex or Disease testing with a blood sample is £13 per
sample, or £12.50 if sent in batches of 5 or more.
Sex testing from feathers are priced at £13.50 per sample. Or a rate of £13.00
if sent in batches of 5 or more. Special deals available on double and triple testing, or for batches of 30 samples or more. Please call for details.
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