Sex Made Easy™
Safe, Fast, and Accurate...

Zoogen's Sex Made Easy™ bird sexing test was the first available, and has remained the industry standard since 1989. Developed as a safe alternative to surgical sexing, over 400,000 birds have been tested to date. Zoogen also offers the most convenient sampling system available today. You can download our order form and apply the bird’s blood sample directly in the lower right corner of the form. Let it dry and cover with tape – it couldn’t be easier. Best of all -no more waiting for mailed collection kits!

DOWNLOAD our submission form here.

The DNA-sexing Process

DNA sexing uses the process PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction) to analyze the DNA from the sex chromosomes of each bird. As in people, bird gender is determined by the sex chromosomes. Females have two different sex chromosomes (called ZW) while males have two of the same sex chromosomes (called ZZ). The gene CHD is found on both the Z and W chromosomes but the size of the gene on the W chromosome is smaller than the gene on the Z chromosome. The PCR process essentially duplicates the CHD gene thousands of times until there is so much DNA that they can actually be photographed on a special instrument. Since the sizes of the two genes are different, males and females are easily identified. A female will have a larger Z-size gene and a smaller size W gene. Males will have only the Z gene. While this sounds simple, there are many variations found in the thousands of bird species tested by Zoogen. That is why experience is important. The results from every bird's sample are compared with results from known sex birds before we are satisfied. With our huge collection of bird DNA samples (probably the largest in the world) and the special care taken by our caring and competent staff, you can be assured of quality results.