chixndux
In the Brooder
- Jul 22, 2016
- 13
- 6
- 47
Hello, Backyard Chicken community! I am a young girl living a farm life in the city! With my three cats, two dogs, eight chickens, and now my newest edition- two call ducklings! I have decided to share my story, and I will soon be kickstarting my own blog! I expect to have it up and running before the end of August. I will post the link here when I have it going. My blog will be a place where I document my poultry related adventures with a few life lessons on the way. Here is a sample of some of the blog posts you will be reading if you choose to follow me!
Identification Made Easy
If you have a flock like mine, you have two or three pretty recognizable chicks- and the rest are all peeping clones of each other. As much as we all would like to say we know our chicks by their personalities, it just isn't possible when you have six production reds that all look the same, especially when they're growing and changing and the one with short feathers now has long feathers and the littlest one is now the biggest one. You can't quite put collars around their necks (there are chicken harnesses, but they're quite ridiculous), but you can put a band around their leg.
There are quite a few options when it comes to leg bands, there is the traditional plastic leg band and even a few temporary bands for growing chicks. You can of course get leg bands with numbers, but if you're like me, you would prefer colors, so you can identify at a quick glance. Whatever kind of leg band you are choosing, there are a few colors to be wary of. Red is not always the best color, because it may be mistaken for blood, and the other chickens may peck at it. I have a red leg band on one of my chicks right now, but they haven't seemed too bother it at all. It depends on the flock, it seems, so get to know your flock before choosing red.
For fully grown chickens, the traditional, standard size leg band is probably the best option. These leg bands come in plastic or metal, but I prefer plastic. Plastic leg bands simply snap together, and can be taken off to clean. As mentioned above, they come in colors and numbers, your choice. You can get these leg bands on eBay or Amazon for fairly cheap. 100 bands for about $6.00. You obviously won't need 100, but it is always handy to have some extras, because chickens live for a long time if you don't plan on culling them, and there is always a chance of the leg bands being broken or getting lost.
These standard leg bands however, are not adjustable, and can easily slip off a tiny chick's leg. So for tiny, week to two-week-old chicks, I have found that drinking straws can be a cheap easy way to keep track of everybody. Simply cut down the long side of a drinking straw, and then cut the straw up into tiny pieces. These little pieces will easily wrap around their legs. The great thing about straws is that they come in colors, and they are easy to take off when the chicks grow out of them.
For three-week-olds to the time they're fully grown and ready for a traditional leg band, I've found colored zip ties to be a life saver. With eight chickens, three of which are recognizable on their own, I only needed five colored zip ties. Simply zip them around their legs, leaving enough room for nail clippers to clip them off when its time to change sizes. These are a cheap, easy way to keep track of your growing chicks. You could continue using zip ties, but they are a bit difficult to put on, especially by yourself. After using zip ties, I highly recommend moving on to the standard leg bands.
Thank you for reading! Please subscribe to this thread for more information on my upcoming blog!
Identification Made Easy
If you have a flock like mine, you have two or three pretty recognizable chicks- and the rest are all peeping clones of each other. As much as we all would like to say we know our chicks by their personalities, it just isn't possible when you have six production reds that all look the same, especially when they're growing and changing and the one with short feathers now has long feathers and the littlest one is now the biggest one. You can't quite put collars around their necks (there are chicken harnesses, but they're quite ridiculous), but you can put a band around their leg.
There are quite a few options when it comes to leg bands, there is the traditional plastic leg band and even a few temporary bands for growing chicks. You can of course get leg bands with numbers, but if you're like me, you would prefer colors, so you can identify at a quick glance. Whatever kind of leg band you are choosing, there are a few colors to be wary of. Red is not always the best color, because it may be mistaken for blood, and the other chickens may peck at it. I have a red leg band on one of my chicks right now, but they haven't seemed too bother it at all. It depends on the flock, it seems, so get to know your flock before choosing red.
For fully grown chickens, the traditional, standard size leg band is probably the best option. These leg bands come in plastic or metal, but I prefer plastic. Plastic leg bands simply snap together, and can be taken off to clean. As mentioned above, they come in colors and numbers, your choice. You can get these leg bands on eBay or Amazon for fairly cheap. 100 bands for about $6.00. You obviously won't need 100, but it is always handy to have some extras, because chickens live for a long time if you don't plan on culling them, and there is always a chance of the leg bands being broken or getting lost.
These standard leg bands however, are not adjustable, and can easily slip off a tiny chick's leg. So for tiny, week to two-week-old chicks, I have found that drinking straws can be a cheap easy way to keep track of everybody. Simply cut down the long side of a drinking straw, and then cut the straw up into tiny pieces. These little pieces will easily wrap around their legs. The great thing about straws is that they come in colors, and they are easy to take off when the chicks grow out of them.
For three-week-olds to the time they're fully grown and ready for a traditional leg band, I've found colored zip ties to be a life saver. With eight chickens, three of which are recognizable on their own, I only needed five colored zip ties. Simply zip them around their legs, leaving enough room for nail clippers to clip them off when its time to change sizes. These are a cheap, easy way to keep track of your growing chicks. You could continue using zip ties, but they are a bit difficult to put on, especially by yourself. After using zip ties, I highly recommend moving on to the standard leg bands.
Thank you for reading! Please subscribe to this thread for more information on my upcoming blog!
