Opinion question about leg bands

[LaurenRitz]

I put chick leg bands on the three chicks that had trouble. One had splay leg and curled toes, one just curled toes, and one got pasty butt.

Unfortunately it appears that the "extra large" leg bands (size 6) I got are too small. They're growing out of them at 3 weeks.

They are an elastic leg band, but I don't want the chicks damaged. When should I remove the bands? Any ideas about another way to identify these chicks? Paint might work but they'll be molting here in a few weeks.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Some thoughts on marking chickens.

I use colored zip ties, the color on the left leg tells me the year they were hatched and the color or colors on the right leg tell me the individual. A blue is one chicken, an orange is a different one, and a blue plus orange is a third. Lots of possible combinations. You need to check any band on the leg to make sure it doesn't get tight as they grow.

Some people use the toe punch method. Use a one-hole-punch and put a hole in the membrane between toes. Which membrane is punched between which toes can identify them.

If you ask some hatcheries will use food coloring to mark chicks. Say you are splitting an order and need to know which chicks belong to which order, especially if the chicks are the same color. Mark different body parts to identify different chicks, like forehead, left leg, right leg plus left breast, or maybe in the middle of the back. A lot of different options. You will need to refresh these as they molt and chicks can molt a few times.

 

[Acre4Me]

Couldn't you tie a piece of yarn or string around there leg?

Yarn and string an be pulled on by the bird and could be tightened this way- not a good thing. In addition, the strings of gluff could be ingested, potentially causing issues.

 

[casportpony]

I use zip ties on everything.

4" on all chicks, ducklings, and poults.

Once they get bigger, I switch to an 8".

 

[Acre4Me]

Yes, they will outgrow bands while growing up. It’s good that you are keeping an eye on this. Do not tie anything in them, it is better to buy larger bands, or even use zip ties. But bc they are growing, you’ll change them several times before they are full grown. Avoid red bc they peck at red things.

Permanent:

1. they sell special hole punches for the webbing between toes. It is designed for chicks/chickens and is permanent. Look at places that supply livestock tools.

2. Wing bands. Usually attached to chicks, it does not hinder them, but I am not experienced with these. Also sold with livestock/poultry supply houses. I’ve seen them at poultry shows too. They come in various sizes and requires a certain tool to apply.

 

[Acre4Me]

I can't imagine a chick small enough for the "extra small" bands.

Quail and bantams come to mind!

Those are very small chicks, especially the quail!

 

[NatJ]

Any ideas about another way to identify these chicks? Paint might work but they'll be molting here in a few weeks.

Yes, paint might work. Of course you would have to re-do it with each molt.

If you are willing to re-do it frequently as they each molt, you can identify chickens by clipping feathers. Maybe cut some wing feathers short on the right wing of one chick, left of another, and the third would be either both wings or the tail.

For chicks, there is a lot of re-checking, but the do not molt all their wing feathers at once. So when you find that some of the clipped feathers are missing, pay attention to clip the new ones as they finish growing (don't clip blood feathers that are still growing, just the ones that are done.)

Once they settle down to keeping one set of feathers long-term, paint or clipped feathers last much better

You can also use zip ties: put it around the leg, pull it enough to still be rather loose, cut off the loose end so nothing pulls it tighter. To take it off, cut through the plastic lump where it fastens, rather than trying to cut the part that's directly around the leg.

They grew out of the "large" bands within a few days. The extra large was the largest I could find. I can't imagine a chick small enough for the "extra small" bands.

Wherever you bought them must think they are selling for pigeons or small pet birds or something. Larger legbands DO exist on some websites.

For example, McMurray hatchery has a page of legbands for sale:
https://www.mcmurrayhatchery.com/leg_bands_and_bandettes.html
They give band sizes in inches, with the smallest being 1/4" across and the largest 1 inch across (meant for adult geese). You can measure the size bands you used, or hold a ruler next to a chick's leg, to get an idea of what size would be good.

(McMurray is not the only site that sells them. I just listed it as one example.)

 

[LaurenRitz]

The size 4 (listed as large) is supposed to be 1/4 inch, which McMurray says to use for day old chicks. Size 6, listed as extra large, is 3/8 inch. Meyers went straight from there to zip ties and large bands. McMurray has intermediate sizes but only in the spiral. I figured if there was a size 6 there would probably be larger sizes in the elastic style, but I can't find them.

 

[LaurenRitz]

I took the leg bands off. Marker lasted less than a day. I'll have to think about this for the next group, but two of the three look like they're pullets and the other is visually distinct. I think I can keep these three straight.

 

[Judy Todd]

I would never use those spiral leg bands as they have sharp ends and end up imbedding in leg.

Yes, had that happen to me years ago, ouch. I now use the ones you snap on with a plyers and watch very carefully to make sure they are still loose.