# Sexing pigeons by their oil glands.



## Keith C. (Jan 25, 2005)

Has anyone ever tried sexing pigeons by looking at the oil glands located above the base of the tail?
I had several men from India come over to buy some pigeons a couple of weeks ago and they told me that hens have two bumps and males just one.
We had 100% agreement on the sexes of about 20 birds we looked at.
I went by the pelvic bone spacing and feel and head shape. They went by the oil duct's bumps and I could tell the difference in the bumps too.
Since then, I have looked at around 20 more pigeons, that I was pretty sure of the sex of and it has always worked.
Has anyone else ever heard of this?


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## sandiego (Jan 11, 2008)

thanks for sharing this, something new to me... but if i may ask how old this birds that you guys look at, are this young birds or old birds???


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## TAWhatley (Mar 6, 2001)

Never heard of this, but I'll go check some of my known sex birds in the next couple of days and see what's what with relation to the preen gland.

Terry


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## sreeshs (Aug 16, 2009)

Both male and females can have two bumps


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## Keith C. (Jan 25, 2005)

Sreeshs, is this method of sexing pigeons common in India?
The other clues for sexing I look at, like head shape and size, pelvic bone spacing and even the coo bob, are never 100% accurate.
Do you know if cocks predominantly have 1 bump and hens 2?
It may be that more masculine cocks have 1 bump and feminine hens have 2 bumps, because the birds I have been checking are the ones I a more sure of the sex of.
I am pretty accurate at sexing homers and rollers, I have more trouble with fantails and English Trumpeters. Since I ship a lot of pigeons, I am always hoping to find a way to be 100% accurate.


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## spirit wings (Mar 29, 2008)

Keith C. said:


> Sreeshs, is this method of sexing pigeons common in India?
> The other clues for sexing I look at, like head shape and size, pelvic bone spacing and even the coo bob, are never 100% accurate.
> Do you know if cocks predominantly have 1 bump and hens 2?
> It may be that more masculine cocks have 1 bump and feminine hens have 2 bumps, because the birds I have been checking are the ones I a more sure of the sex of.
> I am pretty accurate at sexing homers and rollers, I have more trouble with fantails and English Trumpeters. Since I ship a lot of pigeons, I am always hoping to find a way to be 100% accurate.


you can do DNA testing... it seems a bit extreme, but if the birds were special or something it perhaps may be of use. I sent off for a kit one time and it was 24 bucks for them to send the results, the kit was a few bucks for shipping. they ask how many birds you want to sex and then send the appropriate amount of cards. with the cards you tip a toenail so it bleeds a bit and put a drop on the card with the band #, you send it back to them and then they give you the results in the mail. I have known fancy pigeon breeders to do this with young birds they may want to sell as unmated pairs.


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## sreeshs (Aug 16, 2009)

Keith C. said:


> Sreeshs, is this method of sexing pigeons common in India?
> The other clues for sexing I look at, like head shape and size, pelvic bone spacing and even the coo bob, are never 100% accurate.
> Do you know if cocks predominantly have 1 bump and hens 2?
> It may be that more masculine cocks have 1 bump and feminine hens have 2 bumps, because the birds I have been checking are the ones I a more sure of the sex of.
> I am pretty accurate at sexing homers and rollers, I have more trouble with fantails and English Trumpeters. Since I ship a lot of pigeons, I am always hoping to find a way to be 100% accurate.


It is not common in this part, I am not sure about the fanciers in northern India. What I remember is that among many ideas or methods to identify a male and female pigeon, this method was also one which came up but was found that its not linked to sex 100%. Yet, I have to admit that I have never tried this on a homer or roller, as I never had one  so you can still keep hope alive. I went to my loft today and checked on a pair of whites which I have and found that both male and female have clearly identifiable double bumps. I will recheck with all birds in my loft and let you know, these are all fancy breeds.

Even though if its not 100% a method that can be 80% accurate will also help a lot when it comes to pigeon. If you are shipping out adult pigeons, then I remember reading the following from W. F. Hollander's pigeon genetics news letter _"Wilmer Miller has tried injecting sex hormones into “faded” (auto sex) pigeons to see whether he could change the color. He couldn't. He and a friend in Wisconsin, F. H. Wagner, worked out a look-see method of sexing adult pigeons and doves, and published it in the Auc (Magazine), 1955 page 279. They used a small nasal spreader to open the vent diagonally; females show the entrance of the oviduct, whiteish on the left, while males show a small conical red papilla on each side. The method was found no good in immature birds."_

Might be something which might help, good luck


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## george simon (Feb 28, 2006)

*No Oil Gland*

*Well some breeds of pigeons DO NOT have an oil gland it seems that birds with more then12 tail feathers do not have is gland. In the book "The Pigeon" by W.M.LEVI he points out the Fantail, Maltese,and the Orental roller,as breeds without an oil gland.*GEORGE


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## cvarnon (Mar 8, 2010)

Interesting thread. It would be nice if there was a really good way of sexing aside from "the female lays eggs."


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## Ross Howard (Nov 26, 2009)

Magnet(small) on a string ... If goes in circle over egg or back of pigeon it's a hen .... Straight back & forth it's a cock.


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## cvarnon (Mar 8, 2010)

Ross Howard said:


> Magnet(small) on a string ... If goes in circle over egg or back of pigeon it's a hen .... Straight back & forth it's a hen.


This works 100% of the time, unless it doesn't.

Seriously though, I have heard about that method before. It is about the most unbelievable thing I think I have ever heard about pigeons.


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## Ross Howard (Nov 26, 2009)

Not just pigeons , anything I presexed my 3 grandchildren In the womb , horses, cattle.Foys pigeon supply sells them


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## sreeshs (Aug 16, 2009)

Ross Howard said:


> Not just pigeons , anything I presexed my 3 grandchildren In the womb , horses, cattle.Foys pigeon supply sells them


Have someone ever tried to take that test seriously, test that on 50 squeakers of unknown sex, jolt them down and later once they are grown up, check the results you had obtained earlier ? thats the best way to do it. When you do it on a pre sexed, its *you* unknowingly causing the motion  similar researches have been done in the field of para psychology in regards to pendulumns and they concluded that it was the action of sub concious mind  

Since this is 2010, lets run a more scientific way of determining the truth. I have heard that the technique even works on newly laid eggs, wah, science will have a lot to explain now on those


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