Duck with leg band

[Pollo Posada]

I bought a full size female duck at a poultry swap recently. She has a leg band on one of her legs. It does not seem to be tight or bothersome to her. Do those need to be removed? I feel that the removal might be more bothersome than the band... but I also read those should be removed. What to do?

 

[Amiga]

I removed the tiny plastic leg bands from my ducklings on day two, because their legs grow so quickly, I was concerned that the band would get embedded in their leg and it would turn ugly fast.

I have velcro bands on several of my adult runners, because once they reached adult age, they were not easy to tell apart. I could tell by foot color and pattern, size and behavior, but my beloved said they all looked alike to him! With colored bands, I one can tell who is who.

The bands are loose enough to spin around easily, but haven't fallen off in a year, and still are colorful enough to be useful. They did get a little soiled

 

[goosedragon]

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If she is indeed full sized I wouldn't mess with it. The warning is about fowl who are still growing and might out grow the band, doing damage to the leg.

 

[goosedragon]

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And your ducks didn't try to remove their own bands or the other duck's bands? Very proper, these New England ducks!

 

[Pollo Posada]

Thank You, everyone.

 

[Oregon Blues]

Adult fowl often have identity bands on their legs and as long as the bands don't cut off the circulation, they are left in place. It is only the gender bands on new hatchlings that must be removed immediately; the bands that some hatcheries put on to identify the males from the females.

That is so that their fast growing legs don't get too big for the bands and have their circulation cut off, like a tourniquet. A band on the leg, large enough to turn easily is doing no harm.