# can they sex birds like this?



## Shell195 (May 31, 2007)

My friend went into a petshop and asked what sex the young fawn zebra finches and the Bengalese were. The girl produced a large weight on a piece of string and proceeded to hold it over the bird in her hand. If it spun one way she said it was male and if it swung the other it was a female, does this really work?


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## Tedster (Nov 24, 2010)

Shell195 said:


> My friend went into a petshop and asked what sex the young fawn zebra finches and the Bengalese were. The girl produced a large weight on a piece of string and proceeded to hold it over the bird in her hand. If it spun one way she said it was male and if it swung the other it was a female, does this really work?



Depends on how stoned you are :lol2:


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## pigglywiggly (Jul 19, 2008)

agree with ted.

:lol2:


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## Dee_Williams (Aug 15, 2010)

Shell195 said:


> My friend went into a petshop and asked what sex the young fawn zebra finches and the Bengalese were. The girl produced a large weight on a piece of string and proceeded to hold it over the bird in her hand. If it spun one way she said it was male and if it swung the other it was a female, does this really work?


actually i have done this with birds and eggs and it does work. isn't 100% though. presumably those ones are undecided. :gasp:
magnets or neddles work best. :2thumb:


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## pigglywiggly (Jul 19, 2008)

it`ll be 50:50 :whistling2:


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## PythonPaul (Dec 21, 2008)

pigglywiggly said:


> it`ll be 50:50 :whistling2:


i would say closer to 90%


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## Dee_Williams (Aug 15, 2010)

pigglywiggly said:


> it`ll be 50:50 :whistling2:


i've done this with a load of our eggs. 
we had cream legbars so they auto sex on hatching. i put the male sexed eggs in one incubator and female in the other. they were about 85% correct on hatching. i did it for about 300 eggs. 
it is good for testing for infertile ones too. was right every time for infertiles. :2thumb:


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## PythonPaul (Dec 21, 2008)

I kept racing pigeons for 35 years, there used to be a thing with a microchip in it that worked this way. The problem was it was difficult to sex young birds, i would say it was 90% accurate. I still have one in my cupboard and just tried it in my adult royals and it was 100% correct, and these are proven royals


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## martyb (Sep 5, 2007)

I have done this with my wedding ring on cotton and tried it on the birds i knew what sex they where and it worked, if it swayed to and fro it was a male and in a circle a female, tried it with the canaries i was unsure of and it worked with them, been doing it with my baby bantam chicks also.

How does it work for infertile eggs, does it just stay still?


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## SilverSky (Oct 2, 2010)

are you lot drunk? :lol2:


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## Dee_Williams (Aug 15, 2010)

martyb said:


> I have done this with my wedding ring on cotton and tried it on the birds i knew what sex they where and it worked, if it swayed to and fro it was a male and in a circle a female, tried it with the canaries i was unsure of and it worked with them, been doing it with my baby bantam chicks also.
> 
> How does it work for infertile eggs, does it just stay still?



yes it feels like it is pulling down. you can wobble the thread and it doesn't move. 

it doesn't work for everyone though, my o/h can't get it to work.


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## Tedster (Nov 24, 2010)

You gonna share the stuff your taking please :lol2::Na_Na_Na_Na::2thumb:


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## martyb (Sep 5, 2007)

Dee_Williams said:


> yes it feels like it is pulling down. you can wobble the thread and it doesn't move.
> 
> it doesn't work for everyone though, my o/h can't get it to work.


i shall have to try it on the eggs i have in both incubators, see what happens.


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## Smigsy (Jul 30, 2009)

Was going to post this in the classifieds but I think they will sell better here, so magic beans anyone?


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## Dee_Williams (Aug 15, 2010)

well peeps i hatch over 1000 eggs a year. i use this method to pull all the clears out before incubating. i have trialed itover a number of hatches before i started trusting the method. it works. simple really.

definitely 98% for unfertile eggs, about 85% ish for male/female testing.


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## Tedster (Nov 24, 2010)

Dee_Williams said:


> well peeps i hatch over 1000 eggs a year. i use this method to pull all the clears out before incubating. i have trialed itover a number of hatches before i started trusting the method. it works. simple really.
> 
> definitely 98% for unfertile eggs, about 85% ish for male/female testing.



You be aving some powers there me bird :flrt:


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## Dee_Williams (Aug 15, 2010)

Tedster said:


> You be aving some powers there me bird :flrt:



don't dis the idea til you've tried it my love. : victory:


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## Shell195 (May 31, 2007)

So it seems you lot are undecided :lol2: I think the bengalese are both hens so it didnt work on them and the zebra finches looked like hens anyway:whistling2:


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## Dee_Williams (Aug 15, 2010)

Shell195 said:


> So it seems you lot are undecided :lol2: I think the bengalese are both hens so it didnt work on them and the zebra finches looked like hens anyway:whistling2:


you never said which way the string moved.............
is meant o be back and forth for boys and round in circles for girls.


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## Shell195 (May 31, 2007)

Dee_Williams said:


> you never said which way the string moved.............
> is meant o be back and forth for boys and round in circles for girls.


 

She wanted a pair of Bengalese and 3 hen zebra finches. Im not saying it doesnt work I was just taken aback by it, it seemed a very odd way of sexing birds


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## Dee_Williams (Aug 15, 2010)

she actually just asked if it worked.......................


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## gnipper (Feb 13, 2007)

I've known it be pretty accurate when buying canaries, aren't zebras easily sexed by their beak colours?


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## bothrops (Jan 7, 2007)

Of course it works.


A piece of string with a weight on it is perfectly capable of sexing eggs and monomorphic species.

Just be careful, it's definitely 'round on a circle = girl' and 'back and forth' is a boy. Don't listen to those fruit loops that claim it's 'clockwise' for a boy and 'anti-clockwise' for a girl - haha - nutters, as if that's right!

It's also only possible to sex a pregnant humans child if the weight on the thread above the stomach is a wedding ring - an engagement ring will only give 60% accuracy, whereas a wedding ring gives at least 94%....



In fact I can't see why anybody bothers to provide DNA sexing, surgical sexing procedures or ultrasounds. They're all a complete waste of money. Everyone should go with the 'weighted string method'.




Or, its an old wives tale that has about as much scientific basis as the tooth fairy, homeopathic medicine, unicorns and crystal healing. One or the other!


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## martyb (Sep 5, 2007)

I just purchased 2 fischer love birds using this method and i have been to a pet shop where i know the chap and he said a customer came in on saturday and used the same method so we all cant be loopy.


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## Dee_Williams (Aug 15, 2010)

bothrops said:


> Of course it works.
> 
> 
> A piece of string with a weight on it is perfectly capable of sexing eggs and monomorphic species.
> ...


i use it and it works. so think what you like. :2thumb:: victory:


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## martyb (Sep 5, 2007)

Dee_Williams said:


> i use it and it works. so think what you like. :2thumb:: victory:


I agree with you, i tried it on the different birds i have and which i know what sex they are and everyone was correct.

So :Na_Na_Na_Na: to the doubting thomas's


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## bothrops (Jan 7, 2007)

martyb said:


> I just purchased 2 fischer love birds using this method and i have been to a pet shop where i know the chap and he said a customer came in on saturday and used the same method so we all cant be loopy.


'numbers of people that believe something is true' has absolutely ZERO correlation to what IS true!

Plenty of people believe that if you strap explosives to yourself and run into a busy area full of people before you denonate it that you will go to a paradise with 10,000 virgins.....

Plenty of people believe in bearded men floating around on clouds (or equivalent)

Plenty of people believe that water has 'memory' and if you put something in it, then dilute it a million times it somehow becomes more powerful.


Basically plenty of people have no idea about the power of the human mind and the power of society and its ability to make you believe things that are clearly utter rubbish. Plenty of people have no idea about maths and coincidence and plenty of people are just plain wrong.:Na_Na_Na_Na:



Dee_Williams said:


> i use it and it works. so think what you like. :2thumb:: victory:


I will. I will believe that under proper scientific conditions it will be statistically 50/50 as a method for sexing birds. I will believe that you have been lucky in getting more right than wrong and I will believe that your faith in the method has skewed your ability to accurate estimate the ACTUAL percentage you have got correct.



martyb said:


> I agree with you, i tried it on the different birds i have and which i know what sex they are and everyone was correct.
> 
> So :Na_Na_Na_Na: to the doubting thomas's



This is actually massive evidence for the '50/50' argument. The fact that you KNOW the answer and KNOW what the weight should do to get the answer you WANT means that YOU control what the pendulum does in this case.

You can swear blind that you 'absolutely don't' and that you are 'absolutely still' but I promise that you are doing it. Don't believe me? Hang the pendulum from a fixed object and hold the bird under it. If it swings without you blowing it or banging the floor etc, then I'll firstly pick my chin off the floor, secondly ask for indisputable proof and then (and only then) eat a big slice of humble pie.

Exactly the same phenomena has been used (and abused) for centuries by 'mediums' at seances to get people to move tables and move glasses across ouija boards. Despite the fact that all parties will absolutely swear blind that they 'didn't move the glass', that is in fact exactly what is happening. So strong is the will to believe that your mind convinces you of all sorts.

I mean seriously. What exactly is 'telling' the pendulum how to swing?!


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## Dee_Williams (Aug 15, 2010)

so, i have no idea what eggs are fertile or infertile right? 
the needle swings whatever way for fertile eggs but holds itself still for infertile. you can feel the pull on it. 

have you ever tried it yourself??

the fact that you are so keen to dismiss it out of hand as fallacy is complete and utter rudeness. 

i have no idea how i am meant to be making the needle pull down on infertile eggs. telekinesis is not my strong point i assure you. : victory:
and no i am not skewing the results, i have tested it. a lot. i hatch a lot of birds and this is a helpful tool. i use it for infertile eggs, it saves me a lot of hassle, and i did use it for sexing birds when i needed to. i am not sure exactly how you are meant to scew the results when you have no idea what sex the bird or whatever is in the first place either.


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## SkinheadOi85 (Sep 28, 2008)

Ive heard and seen people do this over preg womens bellies with pretty good results 3 out 4 correct.

I however find the best way to sex a bird is pick it up in one hand and shake the blighter!.......if it rattles its a boy (due to the extra parts) if it doesnt rattle its a girl due to no bits!!!........:whistling2:


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## carlycharlie (Jan 16, 2008)

bothrops said:


> Of course it works.
> 
> 
> A piece of string with a weight on it is perfectly capable of sexing eggs and monomorphic species.
> ...


 
Maybe if these were cheaper & definitely 100% accurate more people would not bother using the other also not 100% accurate method of sexing their birds.

I have known ALL these methods to be wrong on occasions :whistling2:


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## carlycharlie (Jan 16, 2008)

Shell - forgot to add, if your friend had wanted some Zebbies you should have asked - got an aviary full of them lol, and in various colours. 

Also hand rearing 3 baby Zebbies coz they were removed from aviary with all the adults & then not knowing which were the right parents was impossible to get then fed properly!!! DOH!! Oh & it was NOT me who removed them......they arrived as part of a 60+ bird intake/rescue today!!


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## bothrops (Jan 7, 2007)

Dee_Williams said:


> so, i have no idea what eggs are fertile or infertile right?
> the needle swings whatever way for fertile eggs but holds itself still for infertile. you can feel the pull on it.
> 
> have you ever tried it yourself??
> ...



Its not 'rudeness' its 'lack of a single shred of tangible evidence'.

I've spent the best part of two hours hunting the online literature for a sound scientific investigation into the sex determining powers of needles and cotton. Funnily enough, all I've found is bird forums full of threads very much like this one with a few parties 'swearing by it' and others disputing the accuracy of such a test and putting forward the alternative hypothesis that it is actually 50/50 and that only those that happen (due to simple probability) to get '7 heads' out of ten 'coin flips' actually give the method any credence. There is also a sizeable proportion that 'expose' many breeders that have sworn their methods work only to end up with completely mis-sexed animals. 


Dowsing for sex determination only brings up quotes like:

'Dowsing is actually a all-encompassing word which describes the use of psychic energy to reveal invisible or unknowable events. Besides the search for potable water, dowsing can also be used to discover metallic ore deposits, locate missing persons or determine the gender of an unborn baby, among other applications.'


Forgive me if I file this with 'the Tooth Fairy, Father Christmas and God' under 'Nice thoughts but probably not real'. (Especially as the above quote itself states 'unknowable'!


Unless you have some peered reviewed paper using simple, repeatable scientific methods that show that this is more successful than just 'guessing'?


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## Shell195 (May 31, 2007)

carlycharlie said:


> Shell - forgot to add, if your friend had wanted some Zebbies you should have asked - got an aviary full of them lol, and in various colours.
> 
> Also hand rearing 3 baby Zebbies coz they were removed from aviary with all the adults & then not knowing which were the right parents was impossible to get then fed properly!!! DOH!! Oh & it was NOT me who removed them......they arrived as part of a 60+ bird intake/rescue today!!


 
Now you say:lol2: Shes actually after some fife canary hens at the minute:whistling2: Poor baby zebs


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