title: Efficiency of the cloacal sexing technique in greater rhea chicks (Rhea americana).
abstract: 1. The feasibility and accuracy of the cloacal sexing technique in greater rhea chicks was assessed using chicks of two captive populations of greater rhea in Córdoba, Argentina.   2. A total of 46 greater rhea chicks of 2 to 3 months of age were randomly arranged into three groups and the members of each group were sexed by a different operator.   3. A feather of each chick was plucked for sexing through a molecular method and results were used as controls.   4. Sex was correctly assigned by cloacal inspection in 98% of the cases. Chick manipulation was easily performed and no infections or traumatic lesions were observed a posteriori.   5. Cloacal sexing of rhea chicks up to 3 months of age does not affect animal welfare and should be considered an efficient alternative to molecular methods.
authors.affiliation: Centro de Zoología Aplicada, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Córdoba, Argentina. gbazzano@yahoo.com
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Bazzano
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lèche
authors.forename: M B
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Martella
authors.forename: J L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Navarro
mesh_terms: D000822:Animal Husbandry; D000818:Animals; D001118:Argentina; D002988:Cloaca / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D004247:DNA / Q000032:analysis; D005241:Feathers / Q000166:cytology; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000662:veterinary; D020311:Rheiformes / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D012732:Sex Determination Analysis / Q000379:methods* / Q000662:veterinary
chemical_list: D004247:DNA