Has anyone used this method of sexing society finches?

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Have these methods worked? (See link below)

Yes (beak shape)
0
No votes
No (beak shape)
3
50%
Yes (tail position)
0
No votes
No (tail position)
3
50%
 
Total votes: 6

Icearstorm
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Has anyone used this method of sexing society finches?

Post by Icearstorm » Tue Mar 07, 2017 10:54 pm

I came across this while looking at the various society finch mutations:
Sexing Bengalese 2

Of course singing is the best method, but has anyone tried this and found it reliable?

Tish
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Re: Has anyone used this method of sexing society finches?

Post by Tish » Wed Mar 08, 2017 12:26 am

Never tried this before. I always just wait to see who sings and who doesnt.
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lovezebs
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Re: Has anyone used this method of sexing society finches?

Post by lovezebs » Wed Mar 08, 2017 12:56 am

Icearstorm

Nope.
I always go by singing.
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Re: Has anyone used this method of sexing society finches?

Post by finches247 » Wed Mar 08, 2017 5:02 am

I also go by under the beak/bill.The male is a C curve and female in shape of a V

But also Male has a bigger shaped beak overall.

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MariusStegmann
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Re: Has anyone used this method of sexing society finches?

Post by MariusStegmann » Wed Mar 08, 2017 11:17 am

You can also sex them by the position of the eye relative to the side of the beak, but it is not 100% reliable. When I see a really pretty bird, I instinctively know that it is a cock bird, but by selective breeding, I have bred some very good looking hens.
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haroun
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Re: Has anyone used this method of sexing society finches?

Post by haroun » Wed Mar 08, 2017 6:09 pm

Never tried i use the song way. In the next clutch i'll try the beak way

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Sojourner
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Re: Has anyone used this method of sexing society finches?

Post by Sojourner » Thu Mar 09, 2017 5:02 pm

A few people identified my white hen, Pyewacket, from photos using beak/head shape as being male.

She is most definitely laying eggs now.

To be fair, that was from not very good photos posted on the internet and was probably strongly influenced by my report that she was doing a sort of abbreviated "song" (but not really the dance part and definitely she never went pair-shaped).

Looking at my birds right now, knowing one is female and one is male (they are currently sitting on 5 hopefully dud eggs and Bambi DEFINITELY does the full mating ritual including going pear shaped) I cannot see any difference between them as far as head shape, beak shape, where the eyes are, or how "attractive" they are. They're all attractive to me, even poor Bambi and his permanently plucked tail feathers.

I'm sticking with song-and-dance, or actual genetic testing. Its only about $15 or $20, though the blood collection method is rather hair-raising IMNSHO.

Finch farm marks that way way up - $100 for DNA testing.

EDIT: Unintentional pun there. Pear shaped, not pair shaped, LOL! Though he has to go pear-shaped to pair with Pyewacket, LOL even more!
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Pyewacket 6/15/17
Trudy 2/24/18

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Re: Has anyone used this method of sexing society finches?

Post by Icearstorm » Thu Mar 09, 2017 9:02 pm

Sojourner
I also have a society finch that may have been identified as male had it not been for the egg-laying. I call her Finch the Finch (most of my pets have weird names), and she kind of acts like a male. As I often see with my male finches, she will fly right up to another female immediately after that female was mating, and proceed to mount her and flap around as a male does when copulating. It's as if she thinks she's competing with the male for her share of baby-making. But I saw her lay an egg, so now I can be sure she's female (unless she's a chimera, but that is extremely unlikely).

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