How do you tell Buff Orpingtons apart?

[ncwormfarmer]

You could get a nice tattoo for each bird. Maybe like they did in kung fu movie...one could be dragon, another, snake, and grasshopper.

 

[farmerinKC]

My two are only six weeks old-but I can tell right now by size and personality. The smallest one I named Sweetie-because she always runs to me when I'm refilling the water and food and wants to be petted and picked up.

 

[Rhett&SarahsMom]

personality all the way. I have been able to tell my 3 BO apart since we got them. Audrey was ALWAYS pushy. Still is.
Olivia was shy. Mae was , well Mae

I put nail polish on Audrey's toes so that my dh and dd could tell her and Olivia apart. Never had that issue with Mae.

 

[axion_lotus]

A dot on the head with washable crayola markers is a good way to tell them apart.

Okay, you're blue...you're green....you're purple...and you're orange...

 

[AZSummer]

I can't tell my BOs apart either. They're the same size and have the same personality. They could be clones! I also have two production reds that look nearly exactly alike. One just has more coloring on her beak. We have to get up really close to tell them apart. I've thought about getting the bands to tell them apart, but we haven't. Instead, we kind of lump each set of two girls together as one when we talk about them. It hasn't really hindered anything here.

 

[tiffanyg2]

Can't you just dabble some beautiful nail polish on one of their toenails?? I don't think that would be harmful

If there is no key feature that makes them stand out I've seen some cute chicken underwear~ seriously... they make that!

 

[gale65]

If you use red nail polish will they peck at it? I thought I read that they will peck at anything red.

 

[tiffanyg2]

Quote:
Well there is always pink, green, yellow, blue, purple, yellow, etc.... maybe some pastels!

I've seen people do this to their puppies when they are young so they can tell them apart. I didn't know that about the red though~ Haha I guess they are kinda like a bull then. Maybe I will put a red tshirt on my dog and send her outside for a test run!!

 

[Blue]

My 2 Buff Orps had names, but I finally just started calling them the Golden Girls because they just looked too similar.

 

[lutz123]

I made the mistake of marking mine with a sharpie - seemed brilliant at the time, until they started pecking each other!! Fortunately it wore off quickly. I could tell mine apart once they were 4 weeks old or so...