'How to apply wing bands' and 'Spreadsheet for record keeping'

[Dlmillion]

as @aart suggested, here are a couple pictures showing the bone and tendons in a chicken wing! hopefully these help

 

[ejcrist]

I watched a video on applying bands to chicks but I couldn't tell how far back behind the tendon the hole was made. Do you pierce the skin as far back as the band will allow or just somewhere past the tendon within range of the band? Also, as they grow does the skin just stay loose around the piercing to accommodate the band?

I'm seriously considering using wing bands because I'm starting a breeding program in another two months or so and I need a reliable way to ID the birds. The plastic bands just aren't reliable since some of my layers picked theirs off. I don't know how they did it since I found it a challenge to hold the bird in one arm and spread the plastic band with one hand enough to get it to coil around the leg. My birds are confined to a secure coop and run though so I guess it's like people in the slam - they have all day to figure things out.

 

[Dlmillion]

I watched a video on applying bands to chicks but I couldn't tell how far back behind the tendon the hole was made. Do you pierce the skin as far back as the band will allow or just somewhere past the tendon within range of the band? Also, as they grow does the skin just stay loose around the piercing to accommodate the band?

I'm seriously considering using wing bands because I'm starting a breeding program in another two months or so and I need a reliable way to ID the birds. The plastic bands just aren't reliable since some of my layers picked theirs off. I don't know how they did it since I found it a challenge to hold the bird in one arm and spread the plastic band with one hand enough to get it to coil around the leg. My birds are confined to a secure coop and run though so I guess it's like people in the slam - they have all day to figure things out.

The skin is pierced anywhere past the tendon within reach of the band. It doesn't need to be as far as the band can reach.
My chickens have had their wing bands on a few months now and they are all very well in tact and absolutely wonderful for keeping track of the birds. Once they get their feathers it's hard to see the skin where the band pierces through so I can't quite say whether the skin does much of anything as far as tightening or loosening aroun the band but the bands are all snug and don't wiggle much at all.
I can very easily pick up the birds, pull their feathers to the side, and see/touch the bands without it bothering the chickens one bit.

I definitely recommend wing bands based on my experience with them