Bandettes for my flock?

[exop]

Hi all, I'm about to invest in a bunch of numbered bandettes for the first time, maybe some spiral bands as well.

How snugly should they fit on the leg? How much "jiggle room" should there be for a bandette on the leg of a full grown bird?

Sizing would be easy, if chickens had perfectly round legs with a fixed diameter. However, the leg shanks I have looked at all have a rectangular cross section.

For example, one rooster has legs that are roughly 3/4 "x 1/2" , side x front.
Should he take a size 12 bandette (inside diameter 3/4")? Or what size would you suggest?

What sort of fit are we aiming for?

Not this I assume: (WAY too tight)

How flexible is the bandette: is it good at changing shape to wrap around the chicken's leg? like this: (stretched)

Or does it stay in a circular shape no matter what,

(tight)

(snug)

(some wiggle room)

(loose) ... or should it be even looser?

OK, now your opinion: which of the above pictures best shows how a bandette should fit on an adult bird?

How about on a young bird?

Do they sort of expand as a young bird grows, and if so, which picture shows a point when you ought to move to a larger size bandette?

For spiral bands (flexible like bandettes), and regular leg bands (fixed size), are the rules different?

Thank you legband and bandette gurus.

 

[Silkie Sue]

sorry i don't know
i posted about this a few days ago and did not get much advise...
i would think that a good fit would be the "some wiggle room" pic, but you gotta think about them maybe getting caught on something>>>
hopefully you have better luck with this than me. but i will be lurking

 

[ranchhand]

I got numbered, different colored bandettes from www.cutlersupply.com
I seem to think they have a size chart, organized by breed and gender.

 

[ranchhand]

BTW, different colored zip/cable ties work well. With all bands, you want to check frequently to make sure they aren't binding.

 

[Silkie Sue]

awesome

 

[ranchhand]

Quote:
LOL, sorry I missed your original post, there are soooo many these days!

Another word of advice- I ordered blue, green and white bandettes from Cutler. The blues and greens are so dark in color that it's nearly impossible to read the numbers - stick with the lighter colors!

 

[BlackBrookPoultry]

I think they recommended a 12 for orpingtons, but mine keep coming off somehow. So I just ordered size 11 from Stromberg's. Hopefully that will work better.

 

[exop]

I guess my question is, what is considered "binding"?

And what is "too loose"?

How flexible are celluloid bandettes, do they want to spring back into a circular shape and pinch the chicken's leg?

 

[BlackBrookPoultry]

Yes, they are pretty stiff and do spring back into a circular shape. The biggest problem I've has is when they slip down and get caught on the foot. If it's not noticed right away it could cause major problems.

 

[exop]

Alright... since I'm still not sure what exactly to expect from a bandette, I went ahead and ordered some clip-on plastic legbands in a few sizes. This will give me the light weight, bright colors, and ease of application I was looking for, and the cost is still pretty low... Also, with several sizes I will be prepared for birds' legs to grow, and won't have to worry about whether or not the bandettes are flexible enough not to pinch their ankles. We'll see...

I wish they still made numbered bandettes in the smallest sizes, 4 and 5... no place I looked seemed to have them.

Size 6 was pretty rare... most stores had 7, 9, and 11... some had 14, 13 or 12... but nowhere was there a 4, 5, 8 or 10.

Best - exop