Duck Bands?

[Johnson5326]

I want to find a way to tell my pekins apart but the bands I have found online seem more for collectables than actual use. Is there something else I can use or is there a website anyone recommends?

 

[CelticOaksFarm]

Poultry bandettes sold in various sizes and colors. We use them on our geese.

 

[Johnson5326]

Where is the best place to order them?

 

[Amiga]

Just a thought about an alternative: for a small flock, colored velcro wraps have worked well for me. I put the soft fuzzy side against the leg. They can be ordered online or picked up at an office supply store or some department stores.

 

[MommaDuck]

I have found that it is easy to tell them apart once you get to know them. Mine are a little over four weeks old. We have two and when they were really young I thought about doing something to "mark" them. We didn't though. We just picked out the names and once they were a little older I asked my son which one is Ming Ming and he pointed to the one I also thought should be Ming Ming. Ming Ming(from a childrens cartoon Wonder Pet if you didn't know) is the braver of the two just like the cartoon where they go and save animals. Ming Ming is the one who will approach us or the water/treats/food whatever first then Daisy follows. Ming Ming is easier to handle and doesn't scream when picked up, stands taller than Daisy, Daisy cowers behind Ming Ming. Daisy hates me LOL. She never takes her eye off me. Their eyes look different too, I see distrust in Daisy's. Also Ming Ming has more tail feathers right now.

 

[tweetysvoice]

Just a thought about an alternative: for a small flock, colored velcro wraps have worked well for me. I put the soft fuzzy side against the leg. They can be ordered online or picked up at an office supply store or some department stores.

That is a brilliant Idea! We'd been using blue food coloring on the back of the neck to distinguish between our two pekins (nope - can't tell them apart other than that), but now that they are feathering out, the food coloring is disappearing really quick. I have several of those velcro wraps! Will have to dig them out tonight.

 

[CelticOaksFarm]

Curlers, randallburkey are two that sell them. If you google poultry leg bands you will see all sorts. Stay away from the ones labeled as spirals, they cut into the legs and don't move with them.

 

[Oregon Blues]

Smith Poultry and Game Bird Supply www.poultrysupplies.com has decent prices and offers many different styles.

You can chose from metal, plastic, numbered, unnumbered, and colored.

If you google for poultry leg bands you will find many suppliers.

 

[Johnson5326]

I think I will try the velcro. I can get it at the store that's close enough to walk to and I actually only need to tag 1, maybe 2 of them. I actually can tell them apart now just because quack is almost solid yellow and peep has more white but that will change. Some days one is more friendly then the next the other is. With the mallards, chirp is smaller and darker than duckie.

I did get the Ming Ming name. My son loved the show but we decided we don't really need cable anymore when the cost tripled. Ours are named after Peep and the Big Wide World (Peep, Chirp, and Quack), Moe is short for Mohawk (he has a crest and we're not sure what he'll grow to look like, and Jeffrey (from Charlotte's Web b/c he has been the only one that wants to be held and doesn't scream when we hold him or walk around with him). Duckie, is well, just Duckie.

I am lucky enough (or unlucky enough depending on how you look at it) to only work a few hours a week so we spend at least a few hours a day with the little guys. I just hope we ended up with more females than drakes. If not, I'll be going to the sale barn and bidding on more. I couldn't bare to part with any of them or to have to explain that to my son.

 

[Amiga]

Thanks for the background story. It's nice to picture how the flock (including the human members) works.

I found the velcro wraps (soft side in) are pretty easy to size, with just a little "slop" so it spins easily on the leg but won't slip off the foot. My girls have been wearing theirs (a few of them don't have bands because they are so distinctive) for about two years now and though they have picked up some dirt, I can still tell the blue from the red from the orange bands.

I wrapped twice around and snipped off the extra.