The 2 pieds that Dave gave me he said were male but their cere are starting to go brown but they do not have white rings around their nostrils. Can someone tell me if they are male or female? The one in the top picture also has a flatter cere than the bottom one.

 

Edited July 28, 200817 yr by deb

I agree they are both hens, do you have a picture before the cere started to change? If you do could you post it here.

I'd say top one is a boy and bottom one is a girl

I agree with liv, top one looks nice and pink so seems more boy like, where as bottom seems to be a girl.

Mind you the top ones not as bulbus and round as cocks cere's usually are, but who knows, going by colour it seems male.

I get confused as well because i find it hard to tell the 2 apart in the aviary. One of them has been trying to mate with his sister but i do not know which one. Both had purple ceres when they were younger. I cannot work out pieds at all when it come to the gender of them.

Even by those photo's I say ones a hen ones a cock, by the sounds of one of their behaviour that would be correct

I agree with Libby

*snap I must be quicker with my post lol - I see 1 boy 1 gitl too:D Are they biting you Deb lol

*snap I must be quicker with my post lol - I see 1 boy 1 gitl too:D Are they biting you Deb lol

 

 

They were not biting too hard, the gloves are to protect me from Violet, my handraised budgie who does not like sharing me with the other birds. If i am holding another budgie she will landed on my hand and bite me continually very hard to make me let go of the other bird.

Deb you need to put a coloured split ring on one of their legs so you can easily tell the difference

Deb you need to put a coloured split ring on one of their legs so you can easily tell the difference

 

Thanks MB, that is a great idea.

Their feathers look different from the back, so that has to be the way to tell them apart.

 

Their sisters have all gone brown and crusty, well their ceres anyway, whilst these 2 have stayed.

 

You have to remember that male recessive pieds will not turn blue but will remain is they are. The females will be lighter and turn white then brown, these 2 did not go through this stage.

 

Until one is a crusty brown, I am going to say that since both are recessive pieds, both are male. When one lays an egg and has a crusty brown cere, I will admit I am wrong - LOL!!!!!

YAY! i was 1/2 right ....

 

 

I'm a glass 1/2 full kind gal

One has gone brown, it doesn't have to be crusty though

Hold on, Hold on Hold On- I take back what i said .... Me beign 1/2 right ,,,

 

 

I am looking at the pics again - And i still think that they are boy and girl the shape and roundness in the cere is the give away here ....

can we get the age of the birds? I'm not seeing the normal brown change that a hen gets, more the palness a recessive pied male can get when not in breeding condition.

They are 5 months old and the sisters like Dave said have brown and crusty ceres so maybe they are males then. They both had purple ceres and then they have changed to a browny colour so it got me confused about their gender.

I see 2 boys

CLICK HERE here is an example of a male recessive pied & lacewing hen (where also in the male the cere doesn't change) CLICK HERE All about Ceres, these ceres remind me of the young baby hen that Kaz is displaying in her 2nd post in this post.

Edited July 28, 200817 yr by Elly

I am still going to say boys

I was under the impression you thought both were girls orignally Dave?

I was under the impression you thought both were girls orignally Dave?

 

 

Dave always said they were boys, i was the one not sure because i how their ceres have changed.

Ahh my bad, i thought you said he thought two girls

Nope He said that their sister cere's have changed to brown Hehehehe

well keep an eye on the second one but I think both are males at this point