Need help - first timer to wing bands for bantam cochin adults and day old chicks

[Scifisarah]

I finally got some chicks to hatch from the mottled bantam cochins I bought at the Ohio Nationals last year. I intend to show in the future, and would like to wing band my two adult birds, and six chicks that just hatched. I have the Jiffy metal wing bands and pliers. Is there a video somewhere, or a very detailed description with does and don'ts? I am very nervous about doing it wrong and harming the bird, or messing up the carriage of its wing. Do I need to do anything different when applying them to an adult bird - for example will there possibly be bleeding or take longer to heal?

 

[TeaChick]

Have you searched on YouTube?

 

[Kelsie2290]

http://www.nationalband.com/nbtpoult.htm has videos and pictures of wing banding.

I just got done wing banding a couple hundred chicks and youngsters again this weekend with half Jiffy 893and half Zip 890 bands, we had the pliers for both. Personally, I do like Zip bands much more than Jiffy bands. Both kinds are easier to do with two people, the Zips are easier to do alone. I don't have the worlds greatest eye-hand coordination and the Jiffy bands I find hard to keep in place on the pliers when fastening them and often I don't seem to be able to get them to "roll" right when I clinch them. The Jiffys are smaller and are easier to get through the wing though. The Zips I find easier to fasten and be sure they are fastened right since you can see if they are sealed. I find young birds about 2-3 weeks old for standards and 4-5 weeks old for bantams easiest to do and the bands don't drag at the wings as much. With with both bands, if you have two people, I usually have one person hold the chick, and the other put the band through the wing, then fasten it. The Jiffy bands are supposed to be a one step process but I find it easier to do in two instead of trying to keep them on the pliers and get it through the wing in the right place etc etc. Do be sure you have them set on the pliers correctly and try to do it in one smooth motion, don't start and stop. With actually getting them through the wing, just be sure you are in the "web" part of the wing and not hitting the tendons on the leading edge or getting into the muscle on the other side. If the birds are a little older it is really pretty easy to do since there is enough wing there to see what you are doing... there are usually a couple of veins there, but you can usually miss them if you look. With adults or big chicks, be sure you have the band where you want it when you fasten it since it is hard to roll into a different position on the wing when fastened... I usually fasten them with the open side out if I can and then roll it under the wing on chicks since I find that easier. Depending on how many feathers the bird has, on older birds I will pluck or cut a few feathers on the leading edge of the wing if need be to get the band close to the skin. On chicks or birds without much feathering I usually don't bother as long as I can see what I am doing.
Be sure you don't pinch the band closed in the middle when fastening, with the Zips especially you have a tendency to want to close them by pushing the middle of the band and you should do the ends when you line the hole up.
I have had a couple birds bleed a little when I hit a vein, but nothing has ever had a problem because of it. I do check them a couple of days later to be sure nothing has gotten infected, chickens being as resistant as they are it is really unusual for them to have a problem with the band, the few times it has happened I have just found it easier to take the band off, treat the bird, and put on another band later if need be.
If you make a mistake or don't like where they wind up, both kinds of bands are really easy to cut and take off with appropriate pliers since the bands are aluminum.

 

[Scifisarah]

Can't find anything on youtube. Thanks so much for the above post. I will wait your suggested four weeks for my chicks then, and have my husband help.