Ask Lafeber

Sexing

Thank you for your response to my question. I guess I’ll have to look wait a while to find out, he is only 10 weeks old.

Hi,

Yes, at 10 weeks, there is no way to know the sex accurately. Breeders used to pull some long wing feathers out to see if they grew back with male or female markings. However, they seem to have something coded in their DNA that makes them appear as females until old enough to be independent, so the feathers almost always grow back with female markings on a young bird. Even DNA testing is likely to come back as female. This is nature’s way of protecting the chicks in the wild – no bright colors to attract predators.

Thanks for the update,

Brenda