Do you leg band your chickens?

[cluckmecoop7]

If you just have a small family flock, why? Me, personally, would never band my chickens....
Post your comments below....

 

[Yowza Wowza]

You really like making threads XD
I don’t band mine because none of them look alike lol.

 

[cluckmecoop7]

You really like making threads XD
I don’t band mine because none of them look alike lol.

Should I take that as a good comment or a bad one? I've been keeping chickens for a little over a year and just a few weeks ago picked up more chicks from TSC. I has been a long time since I've been brooding chicks..... and I'm just full of questions!

Some of mine are the same breed but I can easily tell them apart.

 

[Tre3hugger]

I plan on banding mine starting this year. I do have a small flock but plan on adding to it with hens I hatch every year. I would use the bands to indicate which year a pullet was added to the flock. So all birds of one year get the same color. Then if i have an egg decline or it gets too crowded, I know who the oldest birds are. I may know all my layers by name, but I will not be able to remember down the line when each was added. So, legbands!

 

[aart]

My flock is not that big, 15-20 over winter, but up to 30+ during spring/summer when replacement layers are hatched and growing.
I band all of them, right out of the incubator.
Right or left leg for year hatched, and various colors for other delineations, like certain crosses. Additional bands might be added for a concern that needs watching.

4" zipties have worked well here, small enough for chicks and fine for older birds.
They can break and fall off, so older birds get a new one annually or as needed.
Best part about zipties is you can adjust the size needed easily upon installation.

Care must be taken to monitor them for growth(like any legband),
and the right tools make it pretty easy to remove old bands and replace with new ones.
Here's how I do it:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/leg-banding-with-zipties.68075/

 

[Ridgerunner]

I band mine. I keep records to help determine which pullets to add to my laying/breeding flock or which to eat. Zip ties on the legs makes cataloging that information easy. Some of mine look enough alike I can't reliably tell them apart so I want something definitive. And like Tre3hugger it helps to know which year they hatched.

May I ask why you would never band yours? Just curious.

 

[cluckmecoop7]

I band mine. I keep records to help determine which pullets to add to my laying/breeding flock or which to eat. Zip ties on the legs makes cataloging that information easy. Some of mine look enough alike I can't reliably tell them apart so I want something definitive. And like Tre3hugger it helps to know which year they hatched.

May I ask why you would never band yours? Just curious.

Yes, you can ask. And you just did.

I just have 5 adult hens right now and 3 chicks. I can easily tell them apart and I'm not planning on eating them/getting rid of them when they stop laying. They are my pets and I think they just "look better" without something around there leg all the time.

I don't want to band my chicks because there is really no reason to, and I heard that you have to keep changing the band as the leg grows. That would be a pain for me!

But that's just my personal opinion. Other people may do what they please.

 

[Ridgerunner]

As far as I'm concerned you have legitimate reasons. You are certainly right about having to continuously check how tight bands or zip ties are. If you can tell them apart I don't see any benefit in banding.

 

[cluckmecoop7]

As far as I'm concerned you have legitimate reasons. You are certainly right about having to continuously check how tight bands or zip ties are. If you can tell them apart I don't see any benefit in banding.

Yep, exactly!

 

[easterbun]

If you can tell them apart I don't see any benefit in banding.

This, exactly - whether it's a small flock or large, if you can easily identify each bird then bands are not necessary. If you have even a few who are basically identical, bands can be very helpful, but almost essential with large numbers of identical birds.