Zip ties for leg bands?

[cheraboo]

Quote:
Our 4-H group uses zip ties for our market broilers and cornish. Most of the kids keep their birds at our leader's farm, which makes for around 120 birds. Each kid uses a different color tie to identify their birds. The only problem they ran into with them was not changing them frequently enough so the chicken's leg outgrew the zip tie. A couple of the kids ended up with a chicken or two that lost a foot or whose foot got really deformed because the zip ties cut off circulation/growth. That was the only problem we ran into using the zip ties.

 

[funonahonda]

Why do you need to have bands on there legs for??

 

[cheraboo]

Quote:
Ooh I like that idea. The strips stayed on ok? I'll have to remember it in the spring when our 4-H group gets their market birds.

 

[wegotchickens]

Just out of curiosity:
Can you draw a leg band on with a Sharpie?
I just need to know who's who for a little while, and I have LOTS of Sharpies....

 

[SundownWaterfowl]

Quote:
Ooh I like that idea. The strips stayed on ok? I'll have to remember it in the spring when our 4-H group gets their market birds.

Yes, they stay on great.

 

[cheraboo]

Quote:
I don't know how well a sharpie will mark a chicken leg. We used sharpies on the chick's heads to further identify them. Just a little mark works find. No problems with pecking either - at least not with the broilers and cornish.

 

[wegotchickens]

Quote:
I don't know how well a sharpie will mark a chicken leg. We used sharpies on the chick's heads to further identify them. Just a little mark works find. No problems with pecking either - at least not with the broilers and cornish.

These are EE & Welsummer chicks, so they already have too many markings on their heads for it to work. I want to mark the Welsummers into 2 groups until they go to their new homes. I think I will see how the Sharpie works. No time to go get Velcro.

 

[Farmer Kitty]

Quote:
I tried it on their toe nails and found out I had to remark them at least daily.

 

[chick2good4u]

Ok, I know everyone is going to laugh, but I'm new at this. Here goes: How do I get the spiral bands on? and what size should I get for my RIR girls?

 

[Maryallison77]

Hmmmmm, sounds like a good idea to me now! Thanks everyone!