why do people use leg rings?

[andyh]

As already said...leg rings are a great, and cheap, method to for easy identification when you have many birds of the same breed as I do. Although type and the correct size is very important.

I have a small battery operated Bushnell wildlife / trail camera and I occasionally use this inside the hen house to record my birds on video, photo or both!

I can then see which birds are laying, their lay times and it even records the date, time and temperature onto the images. By using no glow LEDs, which emits a wavelength of infrared light completely invisible to humans and animals, it allows me to record them during the day or at night.

As a result of using the camera, i've learned so much more about my birds...
I've one bird which has never laid an egg, she wanders around inside the house but comes out after some 5 / 10 minutes or so, she's healthy in every way but just doesn't lay and egg. The culprits when egg pecking started and I was able to act quickly and never had to cull a bird. That some birds were sleeping in nest boxes and was able to block them up overnight until they started perching.

It's also a very useful tool in so many ways...to learn more please see the link, to which I have no association. http://www.naturespy.org

I appreciate this went slightly off topic...but its all related 'to why people use leg rings' and hope it helps...

 

[Don P]

how long do you have the video set for? Is it motion sensored so when the hen comes in the video runs for 30 seconds then when she moves more or comes out it runs for another 30 seconds or how do yo set it up?

Or do you just have wireless video feed to a monitor in your house and watch live ?

Thanks

 

[andyh]

Hi Don P

I have my video set for 40 seconds, although 30 would be fine. It does indeed have a motion sensor for which i'm able to adjust sensitivity, I have the camera positioned to record each bird entering the house, 40 seconds, and as each bird leaves the nest, another 40 seconds.

Initially, I had the timer set for the maximum time of 1 minute but have found that 40 seconds is more than sufficient time to see the birds leg rings as they enter and settle into one of the nest boxes. It records all the data onto a standard SD card, which I simply put into my computer to view...its that simple...or you can even view the video or images on a standard pocket camera whilst at the hen house.

Its such a useful tool when you have livestock as they can be used in a multitude of situation, although I purchased ours to record wildlife in and around our little garden pond...its quite amazing to see just what birds/wildlife visit your patch and their behaviours!

Many people tend to have them for spring/summer projects and then sell them as winter/xmas approaches, as such there are often a few bargains on internet auction sites.