Do you leg band your chickens?

[DanEP]

I'll be adding to my flock later this year. Some will be breeds I already have so I'll probably be banding the older girls before merging them. At least with the older girls I don''t have to watch them as they grow. I don't band all my girls but it does have it's uses.

 

[The Moonshiner]

I breed a lot of projects so I use bands to keep records. I've used real bands in the past but for a while now ive used zip ties. They serve the purpose just as well, easier to get on and off and are a lot cheaper.
Last year I started toe punching for permanent ID just because I've had bands come off in the past.
I still use bands also because theres only so many punch patterns and I can't cover everything with that limitation.

 

[JKlafehn]

Are you guys using regular old zip ties from a box store like Harbor Freight or Home Depot? Or are there special bands. I know there are cheap zip ties that break easily. Thats probably good and bad on a chicken. You dont want them to get caught on something and unable to get free.
New to chicken ownership.

 

[Zan]

Yes, I used bands. Different colors mean different things. Purple are setting hens, pink are my daughters pets, blue are the roommates pets, green hatched in 2019. I used the bands when it's culling time so I get the right ones in the stew pot.

 

[aart]

Are you guys using regular old zip ties from a box store like Harbor Freight or Home Depot? Or are there special bands. I know there are cheap zip ties that break easily. Thats probably good and bad on a chicken. You dont want them to get caught on something and unable to get free.
New to chicken ownership.

Some are 'cheap' and may break easily...you don't want those.
You size them properly around the leg and they're not likely to get caught on anything.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I raise one breed, all black and hatching 100 or more a year, it is impossible to tell them apart. I track them from egg collection till they die. Egg weight, egg hue, date of lay, date set, sire, hen # if I know it. I tried zip ties at first but there weren't sufficient colors to differentiate birds and forgetting to change a tie on a bird is traumatic. I went to numbered colored bandettes.
Each year was a different color so I could tell the age of a bird from afar. I did that for a few years but they kept losing the bandettes which screwed up the whole program.
Now I only wing band. That is the only way to do serious breeding and progeny tracking for line breeding. I usually band them at about a week of age and they are with them for life.

 

[rascal66]

I started to band mine, and I do it mostly to keep track of age. I hatch almost monthly and like to keep some chicks to cycle out some of the older hens. So far it has been helpful!
I should note: I uses colored zip ties! I think I have about 8 different colors. I use a phone app to help track hatch dates of a certain color.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Are you guys using regular old zip ties from a box store like Harbor Freight or Home Depot?

I use 7" zip ties. Some people use 4". I clip off the tail after I put it on and have never had a problem with the chickens pecking them or the ties breaking or falling off. With any leg band, zip tie or other, you need to check regularly to make sure they haven't become too tight.

I bought mine online several years ago, can't remember who from. They are probably cable ties, used by electricians and instrument techs to support and route cables so probably good quality.

You dont want them to get caught on something and unable to get free.

I've never had one get caught on anything with the zip ties or when I used the hard plastic spiral bands. With chickens anything is possible but I just haven't seen it.