Gender identification of domesticated chicken using a PCR-based method

The monomorphism of newly hatched chicks poses a problem for farmers who need to separate them. Currently,
the most widely used technique is the cloacal sexing method which has a low accuracy rate. Thus, a PCR
based gender determination protocol was established to obtain a higher accuracy rate than conventional sexing
methods. Feathers of a day up to a week old chicks were collected for the molecular analysis using the PCR
targeting the CHD-W and CHD-Z genes in the chicken’s chromosome Z and chromosome W, respectively. The
results of this study showed that the PCR based gender determination protocol was a sensitive and accurate
method for determining the gender of monomorphic chicks as compared to the conventional sexing method.