Comparative Evaluation Of Two Techniques Of Sex Determination In Lovebirds (Agapornis Spp.)

Abstract

Most lovebirds (Agapornis spp.) have no distinct sexual dimorphic traits. The objective of the paper was to compare the results of two sexing methods, surgical sexing by celioscopy and DNA sexing by PCR from blood samples, in order to evaluate their effectiveness. Materials used to carry out the studies were a 2.7 mm telescope and endoscopy unit, surgical instruments and DNA sampling kits provided by Exomed.cz laboratory. Forty-two lovebirds were included in this study. The endoscopic sexing procedure was performed by the method described by Divers. Blood sampling for DNA testing by PCR method was performed from the metatarsal vein. The results were different in the case of one lovebird, endoscopic sexing revealed it as male, compared to DNA testing, where it was identified as female. DNA sexing is a non-invasive method that might be more accurate than celioscopy in this species, and bird owners have easier access to it.

Appropriate Primer Selection Improves Molecular Bird Sexing Accuracy

“…The PCR technique has high sensitivity, can be performed at all ages from juvenile to adults, and even could identify the sexes using the eggshell membrane as a DNA sample (Begović et al, 2017;Akrom et al, 2020;Yuda and Saputra, 2021;Turcu et al, 2023). PCR technique has advantages over conventional methods such as external morphological observation, vent sexing, laparoscopy, karyotyping, faecal sexing steroids, and ultrasound for oviduct identification (Khaerunnisa et al, 2013;Casana et al, 2019;Turcu et al, 2020;Hidayat et al, 2021). Those conventional methods above tend to have weaknesses, such as requiring a long time, experience, special expertise and invasive (Volodin et al, 2015;Purwaningrum et al, 2019;Elnomrosy et al, 2022).…”