Breeders Questions: Ways to TAG waterfowl

[Cottage Rose]

The Duck ABC's :

If you want something that is temporary, but last 6 months, then check a bee supply company. They have a paint that can be applied to queens to identify them. This paint is safe for birds. You can apply it to the skin of the leg or onto their toe nails like polish.
https://www.dadant.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=30_55&products_id=601
This link shows the yellow one, but they have other colors available.

Cool tip! THANKS!

I've used food color but it seems to fade real fast.​

 

[chickenlisa]

Quote:
I bought colored spiral plastic bands- marked for Mandarins - and 2 of my Mandies (full grown ones too!) almost lost their legs from them! I wish they had fallen off! One day they were fine, then next I noticed the leg all swollen and pinched in by the bands, so we caught them, cut the bands off (and poor things' legs bled too!) We then used Neosporin, and vet wrap to help heal the legs. They are fine since then, and the vet wrap is gone, they use the legs pretty much like the rest of them, maybe hold them up more and stand on 1 leg, but they all seem to do that. I marked one with a loose zip tie, and the other one I'll always know since his leg is fatter from the scar tissue in that spot. Anyways- I'll never use those spiral bands again- I thought I was buying the correct size for full grown Mandarins and didn't see anything about changing them frequently....Poor things- I felt awful when I saw them like that! I"ll stick to colored zip ties...
Lisa