How to "Mark" Chickens for Identification

PrairieCowgirl

In the Brooder
6 Years
Apr 24, 2013
11
0
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Our chickens will be staying with our neighbor a few months this fall while we are away from home. She has around 70 chickens, and we will need to be able to tell ours apart when we pick them up again. They are young, so they probably will have grown some during that time while we are away as well....is there any way we can safely "mark" our chicks so that we will be able to pick them out when we return?
Thanks!
 
you can buy leg rings from ebay? If they are young chickens then colouring feathers may not work as they could moult them. If you cant get the rings, how about you make your own from coloured cable ties tied v, loosely around their leg? You need to make sure that they dont tighten up more though whilst your away and cut off the circulation from the foot.
 
Love the idea of the cable ties...I would just be worried about them growing while I was away, and the rings getting too small on their feet...

I've been thinking about fingernail polish myself as well...maybe we'll give that a try! Thanks :)
 
Get some small spiral bands. They don't fit tightly around the leg in the first place, and If the bird grows, the bands have some give to them.

Here's a link so you can see what I'm talking about, but you may be able to get smaller quantities elsewhere. http://www.strombergschickens.com/prod_detail_list/spiral-bands

We use size 9 for full grown hens, if that helps you with sizing.
 
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How would one go about marking Japanese "Cot" Quail?

I've thought of the small straw method for chicks & small coloured zip ties for adults. Not sure if I'd do wing markings/tags, though they'll all be penned in anyways.

Also, how does one go about coding them? I can imagine one leg has blue for boys, red for girls, then colour codes based off year or layer or whatnot. How would you go about colour coding yours for eggs/meat?
 
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Thank you, that is exactly what I'm looking for! My mom wants to name our birds, but we can't tell them apart. Those will help us and they are very not expensive
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