Chickens for 10-20 years or more? Pull up a rockin' chair and lay some wisdom on us!

[HallFamilyFarm]

I just measured my toe punch to the illustration Jim and the picture is actual size. I think zip ties are dangerous, so are those plastic coil bands that look like a spring.

Walt

I have had to use a wire cutter to remove spiral legbands from birds when somehow I missed the chicks growth spurt. You only make this mistake once in a lifetime! I have also had to remove zip ties.

On adult birds the zip ties are okay, but always use the as temporary use.

Even the bandettes below will tighten on a growing bird.

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In years past I have used wing bands on chicks. They will come off, tearing the chicks wing. the safest method to mark chicks is the toe punch.

ETA: A picture can be worth a thousand words, or so they say.

 

[Marty1876]

We'll hope that adage is true, otherwise we'd sure be reading a whole lot more! LOL

We don't have toe punching in use much (that I'm aware) in our area, but to be honest, Kansas is not a mecca of chicken breeding. We are quite serious, those of us who have gone to the trouble to procure the necessary trios and hatching eggs to have breeding and show quality birds. However, there is a human propensity to use the methods one has seen be effective, like my parents and neighbors methods. There knowledge works, but I am happy to come here and broaden my knowledge, and consider alternate methods of tracking my birds.

So I have one other question, is marking show birds acceptable or discountable at bird shows? One of our starter trios for my kids 4H flock (aimed toward next year) all have toe markings (different ones, I'm glad to say) which is what got me more curious about it in the first place. Very timely, this discussion.

 

[Chambertin]

There seems to be more posts added than I read every day. Seems to be my problem, but it means that just like me, people really enjoy the thread, attitude and information.
Thanks to everyone who posts from the gut and helps anyone learn as they learn themselves.

Great community and I'll be enjoying the rest of the thread.
To be honest the more I read the more I want to stop my hobby and start my farm. (Yeah I know its hard *** work, but now that the years have passed I'm ready to deal.)

 

[Erin~TheChickenLover]

On the dumpling issue. The German dumplings were really potato dumplings, only had a small amount of flour, called klaisa sp. The Swedish dumplings are half potato and half flour called knaddles sp. I don't think you could can either of them.

The dumplings I've always eaten are dough. Flour, shortening, salt, baking powder, and milk. We make strips of dough and then pinch them off into little pieces to go in with the chickens and broth.

 

[galanie]

I was born and raised in the south. Dumplings here are simply biscuits that have been cooked in chicken broth rather than in the oven. Thus they should be light and fluffy. If you canned them, they'd be overcooked and be like a noodle. I've had those gummy noodle things and they are yukky.

 

[Erin~TheChickenLover]

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In years past I have used wing bands on chicks. They will come off, tearing the chicks wing. the safest method to mark chicks is the toe punch.

Yep, I don't believe in the wing bands. Injuries may not be common but I've got a black aussie who the past owners wing banded wrong. She is crooked now. The banded wing hangs low and the other wing is held too high. It's very noticable. We removed the band but she is still crooked. This wing band wasn't one of the plastic colored ones, it was metal.

 

[HallFamilyFarm]

I am considering going to metal wing bands on all adult birds. It helps identify the birds at a show if stolen. They are very difficult to remove in a hurry. But I would never use them 'again" on a chick or juvenile bird.

 

[bobbi-j]

This is very good information. I have some Buckeye pullets I want to ID, but I'm thinking it's too late for the toe punch. They're 4 months old. I don't need to band them until spring. I was thinking of using zip ties, but am now reconsidering that. So, if I wait until they're adults, what would be the best type of band?

 

[Marty1876]

I personally (at this point) would use a leg band. Your going to actually physically check the bird every week until adulthood. Every bird we have is touched often, and I don't have problems with grown in bands. I've never had a problem after banding an adult (or any other age, but as I said, our birds are each handled at least every week).

 

[Ridgerunner]

I use the colored spiral plastic bands. For my needs, I need to identify individual birds based on production, not based on parentage. Different needs and different methods for different folks. Thr colored spiral bands are reusable.

I wait until they are big enough for the adult size before I band them. I can't give you age because I haven't kept track. I'm in no hurry until a pullet is approaching time to lay and by then she is big enough. Cutler Supply has a chart that gives you the sizes you need based on the breed and species. That chart only works for hens of that breed. The given sizes are too small for the roosters.

Choose your colors based on the color of the legs. The darker colors are not great on birds with black legs. I can vouch for dark blue being a challenge on Black Australorp.. You night want to avoid yellow on birds with yellow legs. You can still see them, but you have to look harder.

I used zip ties once. They work but you have to wait until the bird has grown enough that it won't get too tight. I've never had any trouble with the spiral bands or the zip ties coming off. Don't use the clear zip ties at all or the white ones on light colored legs. You need a color contrast.