Technology ID's gender of very young birds

[Donna]

DRESDEN, Germany, Nov. 25 (UPI) -- German scientists say they've developed a technology that can determine the gender of turkeys and other birds before they develop external sexual features.

The researchers at the Dresden University of Technology led by Gerald Steiner say numerous bird species, nestlings and immature birds in particular lack external sexual characteristics. But identifying a bird's gender is important for poultry breeders, veterinarians, aviculturists and ornithologists.

Steiner and his team used infrared spectroscopic imaging to look at pulp germ cells -- cells from which other cells are derived -- extracted from the growing contour feathers of 23 male and 23 female six-week-old turkey poults. They said the technique, based on the genetic information contained in the cells, successfully classified female and male poults with an accuracy of more than 95 percent.

The study appears in the early online edition of the journal Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry.