Chick leg band removal?

[K813ZRA]

Hello and thank you in advance for the advice.

So I got my order of chicks from Meyers today and they all seem healthy, I think. It has been two years since I raised new chicks! Anyway, the roosters came with leg bands made of rubber. Should I remove these right away? I mean, I don't know if they will cause issues as the chick grows. They seem pretty small and fairly tight. These chicks are not even 24 hours old yet! So I hope I can wait a few days so they can get a little more hardy before I try to remove these things.

This is the second time I have had this type of marking but the first was with ducks, which havebigger stronger legs and they came right off with ease. Don't want to injure the chicks!

Thank you in advance.

 

[Spartan22]

If you have very steady precise hands and fingers to be confident in taking it off , do it, but if in doubt wait few days. I use nail clipper on removing them but I had dreamt of being a brain surgeon when I was a kid so I have no problem.

 

[PouleNoire]

x2

 

[Kes]

Meyer told me to remove them in about a week. I was thinking of doing it sooner but I haven't examined the bands yet to see how hard it would be. I would recommend making it a two-person job with one of you holding the chick on its back.

 

[K813ZRA]

Thanks for the advice. I think I will wait, I am not so confident in my hand skills...lol. I will have my wife help me too.

BTW, I don't think they are for gender. I just saw a band and assumed that but then I realized that only my BBS Ameraucans had them. Maybe they hatched out first and were put on hold or something, idk. The three that I assume are hens have one band on their leg and the one that I assume is a male has two bands. I assume this because I ordered 3 females and 1 male, all they had left.

Honestly, at this point I don't care what they turn out to be. They are just too cute.

 

[aart]

I'd say it was a good sign that they were marked.
What hatchery?

I'd remove them sooner rather than later, will be easier.
Definitely easier with two people.

 

[K813ZRA]

I'd say it was a good sign that they were marked.
What hatchery?

I'd remove them sooner rather than later, will be easier.
Definitely easier with two people.

Meyers, they are one of the closer ones to me. Though I have ordered through cackle before and they marked too but with a marker pen or something. Metzer does the leg bands too, had that experience two years ago. But as I said, ducks have bigger legs!

Thanks, I will try to get them today or tomorrow. They all seem a lot more active today now that they got a chance to settle. One didn't make it over night (Brown Leghorn) and one had a bit of poo stuck to it but I took care of that and will watch. Not my first round. All in all, everything seems good!

Oh, I just check on them and they sure are playing and having fun!

 

[PupsNHens]

Meyer just started adding leg bands to their harder to identify chicks. You can see the list here: https://meyerhatch.desk.com/custome...and-identification-on-hard-to-id-chick-breeds

 

[aart]

Meyer just started adding leg bands to their harder to identify chicks. You can see the list here: https://meyerhatch.desk.com/custome...and-identification-on-hard-to-id-chick-breeds

That's cool!

 

[K813ZRA]

Thanks for the link and that is cool. Though, mine are easy to id from the other chicks because they have puffy cheeks. Now if I could just tell if they were blue, black or splash. I am sure that will be more clear in a few weeks. Idc what color they are honestly. I wanted some cute bearded/muffed chickens.