annette'spets :
I've been wondering about this banding- where does one get the bands? What are they made of and will they wear out or the birds become upset and try to pick them off? I would like to band my chickens and geese - are they old enough at 8 months?In other words the legs big enough so the bands don't get tight?
We use aluminium bands on some of our birds, but mostly we use the colored cable ties (zip stripes) on alot of our birds. They are adjustable, inexpensive and come in a multitude of colors.
Some of our birds we band with the Aluminium bands as a permanent id. Then band the other leg with a colored cable tie so we can tell them apart from a distance without having to catch the birds and look at the band numbers.
The cable ties are available at most hardware stores, but some of the poultry supply places carry them also and usually have a large color selection. We get alot of supplies from www.poultrysupplies.com & www.cutlersupply.com We have very rarely had a bird loose the plastic ties. When we used the spiral leg bands (like from TSC)- most ducks and geese would loose them.
When applying the cable ties---- you will need a side cutter (wire cutter) pliers. Put the cable tie around the leg, leaving enough room that it is not tight on the leg. The cable tie should freely have enough room to side up and down the leg. Then cut off the excess cable, NEXT to the clasp so that the cable tie can not tighten down any further on the leg.
here is a photo of a pheasant with a cable tie band on:
I've been wondering about this banding- where does one get the bands? What are they made of and will they wear out or the birds become upset and try to pick them off? I would like to band my chickens and geese - are they old enough at 8 months?In other words the legs big enough so the bands don't get tight?
We use aluminium bands on some of our birds, but mostly we use the colored cable ties (zip stripes) on alot of our birds. They are adjustable, inexpensive and come in a multitude of colors.
Some of our birds we band with the Aluminium bands as a permanent id. Then band the other leg with a colored cable tie so we can tell them apart from a distance without having to catch the birds and look at the band numbers.
The cable ties are available at most hardware stores, but some of the poultry supply places carry them also and usually have a large color selection. We get alot of supplies from www.poultrysupplies.com & www.cutlersupply.com We have very rarely had a bird loose the plastic ties. When we used the spiral leg bands (like from TSC)- most ducks and geese would loose them.
When applying the cable ties---- you will need a side cutter (wire cutter) pliers. Put the cable tie around the leg, leaving enough room that it is not tight on the leg. The cable tie should freely have enough room to side up and down the leg. Then cut off the excess cable, NEXT to the clasp so that the cable tie can not tighten down any further on the leg.
here is a photo of a pheasant with a cable tie band on:
