Bird DNA Testing FAQ

Plain answers to the questions we get asked most. Pullidex is a working avian genetics laboratory testing over 2,000 species, from backyard chickens to parrots, waterfowl, ratites, and birds of prey.

• Poultry Sexing: Every Method Compared, and Which One Is AccurateVent sexing, feather sexing, autosexing, old wives tales, and DNA. What actually works at day one.
• How to Sex Silkie Chickens: Why It Is So Hard, and What WorksSilkies hide every normal clue. Here is the realistic timeline and the shortcut.
• Bird DNA Testing and Avian DNA Sexing: How It WorksWhat an avian DNA test reads, what sample to send, and which species we test.
• How Much Does a Chicken DNA Test Cost, and What Do You Get?What drives the price, how bundles work, and what the result actually tells you.
• Rooster or Hen? When You Can Actually Tell, Age by AgeWhat shows up at 6 weeks, 12 weeks, and 5 months, which clues lie, and how to know on day one.
• Chicken Color and Trait Genetics: What Each Gene Test Tells YouFibromelanosis, lavender, chocolate, and how copy counts decide what your pairing produces.
• Chicken Disease Testing: What a PCR Test Detects and When to Run OneMarek’s, Mycoplasma, Salmonella and more. What to swab, what the result means, and what to do next.
• The Blue Egg Gene: How It Works and How to Test For ItWhy blue is dominant, how it makes green eggs, and how to know what a bird will pass on.
• When Do Roosters Start Crowing? What Is Normal and What Is NotThe usual age range, the early and late outliers, and why crowing is a slow way to sex a bird.
• Marek’s Disease Symptoms in Chickens, and How to Confirm ItWhat the signs actually look like, what gets mistaken for it, and how a PCR test settles the question.
• Mycoplasma in Chickens: Signs, Spread, and TestingThe respiratory illness that never quite clears up, why carriers stay carriers, and how to confirm it.