Aussie Finch Forum

Just wondering how much a DNA test to dismiss related birds would be ? (if it's possible).
I just viewed, and paid for a pair of Hooded parrots this morning. The seller seemed like a nice enough bloke , telling me he sourced the pair separately. The birds are not yet fully colored up yet, but to me they looked very close in age feather and color wise ?

I dont think they do dna testing on birds for that. If they do it costs about $300 to be done on a person.

I usually assume a pair of birds from the same source are related (no matter how trustworthy) & pair them with ones from another source to be sure of unrelated pairs.

Yeah...true.

The DNA tests are only to determine what sex and depending on how many tests you have it will cost under $20 per test.
But!!!!!!!
To DNA a family tree is a far far more complex issue and that would cost upwards of four figures so it is not viable

Damn it...

I don't know the birds or the person you bought them from.

Some keep more than one breeding pair so as to sell unrelated birds.

If they are bred at the same time of year, then they will be of similar size and feather maturity.

This is not to say trust everyone or even the person you bought from. However, just because they look of similar age and maturity doesn't make them likely related.

The key rule is buy from reputable breeders and/or visit their set ups. Otherwise, as Tiaris says, it's safer to do a swap with someone or buy another pair from elsewhere and swap the partners.

Yep...cheers guys.

I'm definitely going to the next Mornington Peninsula Avicultural Society meeting to join up !

As others have said. Did the seller have 2 or more pairs of adults? Breeding season tends to be just that, so young will be hatched and sold round the same time. If the person has multiple pairs your odds are better. But if you and someone else both want to get into a type of bird, each buy a pair from a different source and swap. So you each get a bird from each source. Safer. Some sellers will tell you straight up that the young they are selling are sibs.
LML

finchbreeder wrote:As others have said. Did the seller have 2 or more pairs of adults? Breeding season tends to be just that, so young will be hatched and sold round the same time. If the person has multiple pairs your odds are better. But if you and someone else both want to get into a type of bird, each buy a pair from a different source and swap. So you each get a bird from each source. Safer. Some sellers will tell you straight up that the young they are selling are sibs.
LML

Yep,cheers..
I have been trying to read up on Hooded's as much as i can over the year. I have read that they might not bond if you just throw them together at a later time ? (the seller also mentioned this pair had bonded).
It looks like i am going to get/swap one of the birds out, or add some new birds/blood with these 2.
So should i try bond a pair, or get another 1 or 2 and see how it goes with the 3 or 4 ?

And i said i wasn't gonna spend anymore money on toys till next year....