B r e e d e r s bird ID advice needed.

[pascopol]

Hello everybody, I raised poultry for many years, but I never was a selective breeder.

I am going to breed some bantams now, need ideas for birds identification since I have no experience with that.

What are you using for bantams ID?

I see one of the systems is a toe punching, but it has a limitation to

16 characters due to only 2 spots on each leg you can mark the chicks toes.

Then there are bands, spirals etc.

I want to try permanent marker on my first hatch to begin with.
Any ideas how long the marker will last on wings (feathers).

How about marking the legs using permanent marker? Would the marker ink be toxic for the bird skin since marking the legs is involved?

Perhaps some of you have some ingenious or unusual way of marking the birds you would like to share?

Wishing everybody very successful and happy Chicken Year!

 

[moduckman]

Numbered leg bands. Also different colors avaiable.

 

[SundownWaterfowl]

I use numbered leg bandettes, and colored spiral bands. You could also use a permanent wing band.

 

[blackclownfish16]

I use zip ties because not only are they cheap but they come in every size possible and are readily available. I use the smallest for day olds and then switch again at 8 weeks and finally at about a year I put on a permanent one. I have only lost two zip ties (from falling off) in the last 6 years and I have about 60 birds at all times and hatch a hundred chicks at least every year. Oh course theres different methods for different folks and I encourage you to try them all out and figure out which one works for you.

 

[pascopol]

You mean zip ties used for tying up bags ant other stuff?

Great idea! However how do you mark zip ties (Numbers, letters), or perhaps colors?

 

[brooster]

I use numbered bands and spirals

 

[blackclownfish16]

Well I use different colors and numbers.

For example I would use one black and one white on pen a and two white on pen b and then maybe a yellow and black on pen c. I only use one zip tie on the chicks and then for the final adult stage I put a combo of one or two. I suppose you could use a permanent marker on the clear or white zip ties?

 

[blackclownfish16]

Oh and yes they are the zip ties for tying bags and stuff. Home Depot or an auto care shop (napa, carquest) usually has the big assorted containers of zips in multiple sizes and colors and thats what I get. One thing to remember is to tighten it just enough so that it slides easily up and down the leg, kinda like a ring on your finger and be sure to clip the extra end as tight as possible. I love them they always work like a charm for me

 

[silkiechicken]

Just as a reminder on growing birds, check bands often! like every few days because an ingrown leg band is not a good sight.

Good luck!

 

[therealsilkiechick]

i use pda perminant leg bands that r numbered- they r pa dept of ag bands and i put them on them when i test my birds for show. they must have that band to match their breeders bloodwork papers from the lab or they cannot be shown here.

i also use zip ties, in black, clear, red, blue, and about 6 florecent colors. my birds have 3-4 bands on them, their metal #'ed one, a color for specific bloodline they origionate from, one for if they r next generation so they r not crossed back and 1 for who is showing them(there is 7 of us who show, my color is pink so i grab all pinks to take to my cages, so much easier doing this). haha i have perty jewlry on them but they don't mess with them at all.

we found these work best, cheapest, clears u can use perminant marker to add new colors, cut to size w/ added space and can use from hatch, if for some reason it would need changed u can cut off with scissors and if not pick the lock with a needle or tip of pen and it will release from the leg. we had probs with spirals cutting into legs or getting embedded, i will never use them again.