chicken bling

[pysankigirl]

This might be a weird question that labels me as a wacko…but:

I have about a dozen chickens…3-4 of a couple different kinds and I am having a hard time telling them apart. But I have so few that banding them with different colors would be kinda expensive (does anyone sell a package of different colors…not just all one color?)

I was thinking I could use nail polish on their toenails to tell them apart…is this a stupid idea for any specific reason? The other idea a friend came up with was wine-glass markers…jewelry for Chickens? LOL.

 

[MarieNC]

Jewelry for chickens sounds like a recipe for disaster! I have 8 chickens and I tell them apart by slight differences in their coloring/feathering, by comb size and color. For example, I have two Buff Orpingtons where one is slightly lighter than the other. One of my Barred Rock babies has a slightly darker head than the other one. One of my Black Sex Linked hens had more cinnamon colored feathers around her neck. You get the idea.

 

[Chickadee95]

I got these on ebay: http://www.ebay.com/itm/50-Poultry-...470?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4aba385f36
They peck at the darker colored ones but I use the white ones with no problem. Maybe the yellow would be okay too. And you don't have to band them all, just one of a pair of lookalikes

 

[pysankigirl]

Mine are all really young still...maybe they will develop differences soon. the girls don't have combs yet. (just the roolets...THEM I can tell apart!)

 

[pysankigirl]

oh, excellent!

 

[DanEP]

The dollar store sell wire ties that are different colors. You can use different colors and different legs or both legs to tell them apart.

 

[galanie]

If you use the wire or zip ties be super careful that they aren't too tight and check them religiously. The velcro ones are better. They have some give to them and still stay on. They get pretty dirty though. Toenail polish on the claws won't stay on long enough really, you'll be giving them a manicure too often

 

[bellanonna]

I wonder how people who name their chickens can tell them apart from another of the same breed. I would love to name mine, but like George Foreman, I think I will name all of the same breed with the same first name so I don't confuse them, lol. I wonder if the name 'George' works for chickens?

 

[Life is Good!]

I found a package of multi-colored zip ties at Menards (I think it's 100 zip ties in 6 or 7 colors) for I believe $3.00 or thereabouts. I wait to put on their 'bracelets' until they're about 4 months old. I put the ties on with my pinky-finger between the tie and the shank of the leg. That way, it'll be the right fit for at least three weeks. Then I check the bands - any that seem 'tight' get snipped off with a pair of kitchen shears (again, tucking the scissor blade between the tie and the shank). After about 6mo I don't need to change sizes of ties.

Yes, they do get dirty quick. So replacing the ties periodically is just part of our husbandry skills.

We have a flock of Black Javas - yes, I can see some differences between the girls....but unless I see their bracelet, a few are too identical to tell who's who! (Black feathers with red combs and wattles, all similar shapes, all similar combs....!) I'm thankful for the bracelets, especially when they went broody - then I knew which Mom went with which chicks!