Is it...Nooo can't be...???

[Lilly]

Ok Gomez has just gone through his first molt and is looking rather fabulous but to my amazement I think his ring is showing..!!!??
Keeping in mind that he's not even 6 months yet and I know that for sure as I weaned him, they are coloured feathers and not a shadow!
What do you think..?








sorry for the blurriness he wouldn't sit still!

[ellieelectrons]

There is definitely some sort of ring there... but I'm not sure if it is a gender defining ring. I thought that both males and females got a ring... just that the females get a really light ring. For example, Janye, my two year old DNA-sexed female (?) has a ring that looks a bit like that, it is grey in colour (not black). This doesn't mean that she is actually a he does it? I thought females get a light ring?

... and I must say Gomez is beautiful! Congrats!

Ellie.

[Lilly]

Yes your right females do get a lighter ring, males get the very vivid black ring.
To be honest I have no clue what sex Gomez is!
My post is more about that I was always told any sign of a ring doesn't show till they are around two years of age and Gomez is just coming up for six months old so I was really surprised!!

To me it doesn't matter if Gomez is male or female s/he's a lovely bird and very sweet and has it's moments like any living creature I'm just loving watching Gomez mature from a little scraggy chick into a beautiful fully plumed adult

[ellieelectrons]

Yes, I guess Gomez is maturing fast!

Ellie.

[xx_sheena_xx]

maybe
my baby is 11 weeks old and already had black feathers

[PythonzEve]

Sukha is not quite 6 months old and he has that ghost of a ring as well... <shrug>

[Rueae]

Ink is six months old (TODAY!) and has no hint of a ring. :3


/facedesk
Okay, I was going to try to be funny. XD
Ink is albino and DNA sexed female so...

/cough
Yeah, silly post.

[ellieelectrons]

It's not that silly a post... I'm scared that my DNA tests were wrong!

Although, I guess if she's a true albino, even if she was a he, there would be no ring!

Ellie.

[Rueae]

Heh heh, I know. XD
However, I saw the post that tries to show how they can have such different behavior (i.e. boys jumping and arching their neck, girls crouching and clucking) and so I always assumed she was a girl. I was actually told when I bought her that she was female, but then found out it was just a guess from the way she looked.
I hear most albinos are girls, too.

If my DNA results for her are wrong, I guess I'll never know! XD; That's both comforting and not.

Why do you think your DNA results are wrong?

[ellieelectrons]

I think I just have paranoia.... when we bought Janey we wanted a boy. The breeder had all of the chicks DNA tested and had only one boy who was promised to someone else... so we took a girl. The breeder commented that she wondered if the DNA test was wrong. I had heard other people saying that some of the labs here weren't that accurate... and someone else said it depended whether they just one test or not... I guess all of that led to me thinking that I couldn't trust the results. I was told that surgical sexing is the only way to know for sure.

When we got Charlie, he was the only male in his litter (do you call it a litter?), although the breeder never gave me the certificate, so I really just have his word on it.

They seem to exhibit the right female/male behaviours, however Janey does have a light grey ring at the front of her neck... but I think females can get that?

What it boils down to probably is that I'm a worrier. We bought Charlie so that Janey would have companionship when we're not with her.... and I guess I just worry that something (like them being the wrong gender) will go wrong... I should probably stop thinking like that!

Ellie.

[Rueae]

Oh. I sent Ink's feathers to Avian Biotech International.
I got her certificate in the mail the other day, I don't know why but it makes me happy. :P
Something to frame, I guess.

I believe proper terminology is a "clutch", but I'm sure everyone would know what you're talking about if you said litter. Ink was from a clutch of seven! :O It amazes me.

Yeah, the girls get a ring too, just very light gray/whatever color they are, but slightly darker. :3 If she's two and it's so light, I'm sure she's a she.

Indeedly. :)

[Louie]

My IRN, Louie, is just over 1 year old and he has a slight grey ring aswell as a bit of a blue sheen around his lower mandible. He is DNA sexed a boy.