Best leg bands?

[lazy gardener]

George: for commercial operations, I can agree with you. I imagine that the wing bands are very quick to apply. Need a special tool???

However: for the small flock, your arguments don't hold. The zip ties are very inexpensive, readily available, but there are no "serrations" They do have tiny ridges that catch and hold in the zip slot, but those ridges are on the outside of the band, not on the inside. And, of course they do need to be monitored. From the little I've seen, leg bands cost more than I intend to budget in such a system. And, they look like they would be harder to apply, and to remove. And using them would require changing them out as the bird matures. Even if they are re-usable, there's still the continued monitoring, and changing. I'll stick with my zips. When I sell a bird, I keep a plier in my pocket and remove the band before the bird goes to the buyer. My operation is small enough, that I band very few birds in a season.

 

[aart]

The serrations/ridges on the ties I use, essential for the locking mechanism, are all on the inside and recessed...and so small they hardly constitute a 'ragged' surface.

Can't remember ever seeing a ziptie with outer serrations<scratcheshead>
I too remove the ties when selling a bird.

 

[GranolaGirl72]

We only get new birds once a year and small flocks like ours don't get banded until they reach adult size so that we do not have to worry about legs getting larger. The banding simply is so that we can tell the age of one buff from another or one rock from another. In larger operations or where you would need to band early I can see where the wing method is good. Ziptie "teeth" have not been an issue.