The Tetra Tint thread.. (Photos, info) ❤

[NacientNeedle]

paint their toe nails a different color - my friend said when they were children they use to paint the chicken toe nails and it sounded funny! And the girls could look really pretty!! I thought about putting a dot of paint or indelible marker on their heads.

 

[NacientNeedle]

I believe that Tetra Tints are a mix of Leghorn and Road Island Reds - which explains their yellow tint.

 

[NacientNeedle]

my Tetra Tints are exactly as you describe - but they became more hand/lap friendly after they started laying eggs! They are mad high jumpers!

 

[ochochicas]

We have some australorps that we can't tell apart. We put leg bands on them and the problem is solved. We bought them at the feed store for 25 cents each.

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

Once you do put a system for telling them apart in place (ie the bands) you will start to notice subtle little differences that allow you to start telling them apart even w/out referring to the mark you have used.

 

[NacientNeedle]

My Tetra Tints are only 16 weeks old - one of them just laid her first egg yesterday - Her comb/wattles have grown and are very red - the other two tetra tints do not look ready yet at all - their combs and wattles are still small and not very red. So, I would say you can expect eggs anytime after 16 weeks, but you'll know when the combs/wattles change that the time in nie.

 

[NacientNeedle]

The girl in the picture does not look quite ready yet - comb and wattles will get bigger and brighter red. The comb flops over on my Tetra Tint that started laying - watch for the change in size/color of comb/wattles...

 

[NacientNeedle]

what did you make the leg band out of?

 

[PBGGG]

Thanks guys! Ours have very subtle markings, like a patch of very very light brown here and there or some black on their tail, but we cant tell who is who unless we're right on top of them.

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

what did you make the leg band out of?

You can order bird leg bands from several sources online - with many types to choose from - or even use plastic zip ties. Whatever you use, just remember to check the bands periodically for fit, etc. This is especially true for younger birds as their legs grow right along with the rest of them and a band that fit fine last week may be too tight this week - so it will be time to change out the band for a new one that has a better fit. Don't worry if you have more birds than colors that you find - you can use a multiple band system that uses combinations of bands to identify those birds over and above the number of individual colors you have.