ID Bands- Suggestions- Reviews- Failures * Edited-what system do you use?

[RememberTheWay]

*EDITED TO ADD THIS-

Really I would love to hear from other on what organization system they use, how it functions, how many birds, lines, and generations they keep, and what they are tracking and how. I think hearing how more experience d people*


I have never banded any of my chicks or adults. I need to band to identify male/female (hatchery birds that have guarantees) and breeds (guarantees as well) I would like to identify date of hatch for keeping track of ages, and whether a birds is sale or keep or eggs/breeding, I am planning on breeding several generations in several things and would like to keep track of family trees for that as well. Right now I have about ten different breeds but that could change to 20.

My question is what has everyone used and been successful with and how did you use them. Do they have to come from a specific place or does style work no matter where they come from? And is there anything someone has used and it was a complete failure?

I'm leaning towards zip ties maybe in lots of colors and doing more then one maybe?

Thinking maybe assigning a color for each breed and and a leg side for m/f, which would look like "purple" for Andalusians and the purple zip tie would be on right for males And left for females? But then I also want to keep track of year and maybe month and where they came from or family tree information on breeding. Maybe doing an additional numbered ziptie bracelet for writing that information in a record book?

Has anyone used this system? Or have another way of doing this I haven't thought of?

If you do use zip ties how do you put them on and how many have gotten lost?

Does anyone use the rubber bands? Do they get lost?

What about the snap ons? Losses?

Is there another style I'm not considering?

I am not sure how I feel about using wing bands. I really don't like having to actually pierce their skin. But I do appreciate the permanent nature of it. For those of you that use this method. Does it hurt the bird? Have they ever gotten ripped out?

I don't think I would even consider a toe punch.

On the zip ties what size do you use and how many times do you have to change them? Are their bands that will stay on but will grow with the bird?

Thanks in advance. I would like to decide and order something today

 

[Ridgerunner]

I've only used the zip ties and colored bands. How many birds of each breed are you considering having? Hopefully you can separate them by breed visually, won't have to rely on the bands for that. Why can't you tell which one is male or female visually once they reach a certain age? There is only so much information you can convey by colored bands or zip ties. I think you would need to work out your codes for what each band and color means before you depend on them.

I can visually separate mine by color/breed and by sex, I do not need a band for that. I use a specific color on the left leg to specify which year they were hatched. It sounds like you want to do more than that concerning age. I use up to three zip ties on the right leg to identify a specific bird and keep detailed notes about that bird. If you can work out your codes for enough birds you can use zip ties.

I've never used the wing bands but I understand that is typically how show birds are marked. You can put numbers and letters on those bands. You can also get metal leg bands where you can stamp numbers and letters on them to keep a permanent record. You will need to keep written records for each individual bird.

When they are chicks you can mark each one with food coloring for temporary records. A blue dot on the forehead would mean something different than a green dot on the forehead or a blue dot on the left wing. When they molt the down and feathers will fall out, that's why this is temporary. You will need to keep up with it.

 

[RememberTheWay]

I've only used the zip ties and colored bands. How many birds of each breed are you considering having? Hopefully you can separate them by breed visually, won't have to rely on the bands for that. Why can't you tell which one is male or female visually once they reach a certain age? There is only so much information you can convey by colored bands or zip ties. I think you would need to work out your codes for what each band and color means before you depend on them.

I can visually separate mine by color/breed and by sex, I do not need a band for that. I use a specific color on the left leg to specify which year they were hatched. It sounds like you want to do more than that concerning age. I use up to three zip ties on the right leg to identify a specific bird and keep detailed notes about that bird. If you can work out your codes for enough birds you can use zip ties.

I've never used the wing bands but I understand that is typically how show birds are marked. You can put numbers and leter4s on those bands. You can also get metal leg bands where you can stamp numbers and letters on them to keep a permanent record. You will need to keep written records for each individual bird.

When they are chicks you can mark each one with food coloring for temporary records. A blue dot on the forehead would mean something different than a green dot on the forehead or a blue dot on the left wing. When they molt the down and feathers will fall out, that's why this is temporary. You will need to keep up with it.

Yes, I can visually tell who is who most of the time. But I also have chicks right now that look very similar. And I have chicks that I ordered that have guarantees attached to them. Example I have pullet in three different breeds, if I band them as female and the grow up to be a rooster, I know I need to contact someone about that bird. I also keep full Andalusians in bbs, and blue rock/sapphire gems which can grow up to look an awful lot like a full Andalusian. I do t want to accidentally get one of hens in my breeder pens. I am pretty good at identifying everyone but I also have other people who help with chores. I also hatch a lot chicks and want to know when each bird was hatched to keep records of it and who it's parents were. I was thinking maybe zip ties would work best for all this. I can use a specific color for each breed, a specific leg for gender, and a numbered tie to track the rest. Maybe wing bands would be best for the numbers though so I don't have to replace them and I can have our farm initials on it to identify birds that came from here. I am keeping several lines of a lot of different breeds and some of those breeds will be hybrids. I don't want the hybrids or subsequent hatches from them getting mixed in wrong pens if they escape and someone else returns them to a pen.

I would want to know what breed (which would also indicate what pen they belong to) , month and year of hatch, the parents, and sex.

I was hoping that maybe someone on here with more experience in tracking these things would have some suggestions or pointers on how to set up the organization and IDs for the birds. I absolutely can get it all figured out myself but it's nice to hear from others who have already traveled that road to learn from their mistakes. It save me time and money in the long run by listening to their experiences.

Thanks for your helpful suggestions. I've never used food coloring but I have tried markers and it was a failure. Have you actually done this and how long did last before you had to do it again?

 

[RememberTheWay]

I've only used the zip ties and colored bands. How many birds of each breed are you considering having? Hopefully you can separate them by breed visually, won't have to rely on the bands for that. Why can't you tell which one is male or female visually once they reach a certain age? There is only so much information you can convey by colored bands or zip ties. I think you would need to work out your codes for what each band and color means before you depend on them.

I can visually separate mine by color/breed and by sex, I do not need a band for that. I use a specific color on the left leg to specify which year they were hatched. It sounds like you want to do more than that concerning age. I use up to three zip ties on the right leg to identify a specific bird and keep detailed notes about that bird. If you can work out your codes for enough birds you can use zip ties.

I've never used the wing bands but I understand that is typically how show birds are marked. You can put numbers and leter4s on those bands. You can also get metal leg bands where you can stamp numbers and letters on them to keep a permanent record. You will need to keep written records for each individual bird.

When they are chicks you can mark each one with food coloring for temporary records. A blue dot on the forehead would mean something different than a green dot on the forehead or a blue dot on the left wing. When they molt the down and feathers will fall out, that's why this is temporary. You will need to keep up with it.

Also, have you used the snap on numbered bracelets? Would I just be better off finding numbered zip ties? I am not finding them very easily. Was thinking maybe the bracelet would be easier to get on and off but was also worried they might get lost

 

[Ridgerunner]

I only used food coloring once. It lasted until the first juvenile molt which was around 4 weeks of age.

 

[aart]

I used zipties, using color(s) for a certain cross and alternating leg for the year hatched, but not as complex as you are planning.
Spreadsheet(s) to keep notes.
I did use double ties to denote certain things.
One thing, some ties are cheaper/different plastic and less long lasting, I would recommend changing out all ties once a year to avoid them falling off and losing track of whatever you're tracking.

 

[RememberTheWay]

I've only used the zip ties and colored bands. How many birds of each breed are you considering having? Hopefully you can separate them by breed visually, won't have to rely on the bands for that. Why can't you tell which one is male or female visually once they reach a certain age? There is only so much information you can convey by colored bands or zip ties. I think you would need to work out your codes for what each band and color means before you depend on them.

I can visually separate mine by color/breed and by sex, I do not need a band for that. I use a specific color on the left leg to specify which year they were hatched. It sounds like you want to do more than that concerning age. I use up to three zip ties on the right leg to identify a specific bird and keep detailed notes about that bird. If you can work out your codes for enough birds you can use zip ties.

I've never used the wing bands but I understand that is typically how show birds are marked. You can put numbers and leter4s on those bands. You can also get metal leg bands where you can stamp numbers and letters on them to keep a permanent record. You will need to keep written records for each individual bird.

When they are chicks you can mark each one with food coloring for temporary records. A blue dot on the forehead would mean something different than a green dot on the forehead or a blue dot on the left wing. When they molt the down and feathers will fall out, that's why this is temporary. You will need to keep up with it.

Sorry for all these replys (#3) but you also asked about numbers. My flock (s) stay at least 75 birds and I have had upwards of 200 birds at times. When you have less then twenty years it's easy to keep track of everyone. When it's more then that and several hatches in the same year it becomes much more difficult. If I hatch three hatches in a month, once those birds feather out it impossible to tell who came from what hatch or who their parents were or if I hatched them or they came from a hatchery. It gets very complicated very quickly. I would also like to keep records of health issues or injury for my records. When you have thirty australrops all same year it's impossible to visually know which one had pasty butt as a hatchling or curly toes or failed to thrive for three wks. I am working really hard to breed for qualities like vitality and strength, parasite And disease resistance, production, temperment, and so much more. I am taking the SOP into consideration and rate of growth. I can't keep track of these things without a system in place. It's just too complicated with the numbers I have and all the different breeds and lines I'm working with.

That's another thing, if I have three pens of same breed but they are different lines, or working on different traits, it's not enough to just be able to visually tell they are one breed. I will also have F1's, F2, and so on that will need to identify. I'm working on researching what breeding method will work best here so I can get an idea of how to do IDs, maybe using a seperate band to identify the generation within a line?

Really I would love to hear from other on what organization system they use, how it functions, how many birds, lines, and generations they keep, and what they are tracking and how. I think hearing how more experience d people do their systems will help me to sort out the details and kinks in my developing system here

 

[RememberTheWay]

I only used food coloring once. It lasted until the first juvenile molt which was around 4 weeks of age.

Also- I want to band male female because I am interested to know whether I have sexed them correctly and I can only do that by marking who I sex as male and then wait and see. I'm not dealing with small numbers. Right now I have over a hundred chicks in my brooders. I believe the number is somewhere around 120

Question - why color were the chicks you used dye on? I have lots of black down breeds and am not sure due would show up?

 

[Ridgerunner]

Question - why color were the chicks you used dye on? I have lots of black down breeds and am not sure due would show up?

I used yellow on black chicks and red chicks.

I'm not nearly as complicated as you are. From what I've read you might check on wind bands. From what I've read they can go on really young and last forever. I have not used them.

 

[NatJ]

My flock (s) stay at least 75 birds and I have had upwards of 200 birds at times. When you have less then twenty years it's easy to keep track of everyone. When it's more then that and several hatches in the same year it becomes much more difficult. If I hatch three hatches in a month, once those birds feather out it impossible to tell who came from what hatch or who their parents were or if I hatched them or they came from a hatchery. It gets very complicated very quickly. I would also like to keep records of health issues or injury for my records.

You could perhaps use a combinatio of zip ties, keeping track of them by what pen they are in, and then putting individual numbers bands on them when they are fully grown.

Of course you would need records to keep all that straight.

It might work out to something like this:
Use zipties when they hatch for tracking chicks from a specific mother, and for breed if there are multiple breeds in that hatch. Depending on how many mothers and/or breeds, one color each might work, or you might need a two color/two leg system. You could re-use colors a bit, if some breeds are visually distinct (so a White Leghorn and a Black Australorp might each have a red band, indicating specific mothers of those breeds, because there's no way you will mix up the black bird for the white one.) Maybe use one specific ziptie color to mark chicks from a hatchery. Hatchery chicks might also get ziptie colors to label breed and/or sex.

At first, I assume the newly hatched chicks will be in a pen by themselves. So you know the hatch date for all the birds in that pen.

You could use a specific ziptie color to flag any chick that had a problem (pasty butt, curled toe, assisted hatch, etc.) Then note in your records what the problem was. Or even put food coloring on those chicks as a temporary measure, then give them a more permanent record later.

As the chicks get older and their legs get bigger, of course you will have to keep changing the zipties. As their legs get longer, they could also stand more than one little ziptie per leg. So if you combine pens of chicks, add another ziptie to one leg of each chick, as a way to track hatch dates for chicks within that pen.

You will presumably be removing chicks at various ages (selling or killing them). Mark them out of your lists of chicks, and it frees up some amount of colors and combinations to use again. As it becomes obvious which are males vs. females, you will no longer need bands to track those ones (the hatchery ones with guarantees.)

At some point, their legs will be adult-sized or close enough, and you could put on bands with individual numbers. I'm not sure what style of band would be good for that, but individual numbers per bird would let you keep permanent records from that time forward. Of course you would combine the chick records with the permanent adult number for each bird you keep as an adult.

You could even assign a permanent numbered band to each chick at hatch, as a way to organize your records, then use the various temporary methods to track the chick while it is younger (band number 1234 goes with the chick in pen A, wearing a red band on the left leg and a yellow band on the right leg, marked with red food coloring because it had pasty butt.)

When you have thirty australrops all same year it's impossible to visually know which one had pasty butt as a hatchling or curly toes or failed to thrive for three wks. I am working really hard to breed for qualities like vitality and strength, parasite And disease resistance, production, temperment, and so much more. I am taking the SOP into consideration and rate of growth. I can't keep track of these things without a system in place. It's just too complicated with the numbers I have and all the different breeds and lines I'm working with.

For the pasty butt, curly toes, etc, you could track each individual thing. Or you could use one mark for all birds that should be culled (not used for breeding.) That could be a single band color on a designated leg, or food coloring, or I've sometimes use clipped feathers for this too (example: clip all flight feathers on the left wing, and re-check regularly as they molt so you can re-clip.)

You might consider something permanent (like toe punching) for marking those birds, so you can always spot it and don't have to change another band each time they grow. I read one piece of breeding advice in an old book: to sort through chicks at a certain age and cut off one toe of the obvious culls, then growing them out for meat. (The culls are certainly not going to lose THAT marking method, but personally I don't think I'd be happy doing that to them.)

Or with that many birds, maybe have a few pens that are just for culls (sorted by age: young chick culls, middle-sized culls, adults) Instead of marking the birds, you could physically move them to the cull pens.

That's another thing, if I have three pens of same breed but they are different lines, or working on different traits, it's not enough to just be able to visually tell they are one breed. I will also have F1's, F2, and so on that will need to identify. I'm working on researching what breeding method will work best here so I can get an idea of how to do IDs, maybe using a seperate band to identify the generation within a line?

Separate bands certainly could work for that. If you use thin zipties on adult birds, they could have several on each leg without it being a big deal, to track various different traits.

Maybe combine that with individual numbered bands on adult birds, so you can spot some things at a distance (color of zipties) and some things when you pick up the bird (their individual number lets you look up your complete records on that bird.)

Really I would love to hear from other on what organization system they use, how it functions, how many birds, lines, and generations they keep, and what they are tracking and how. I think hearing how more experience d people do their systems will help me to sort out the details and kinks in my developing system here

I don't have much personal experience to offer, but I've spent some time thinking about systems for possible future use.

Personal experience is limited to colored zipties, poorly organized records that are handwritten or typed into a computer, and clipping feathers to visually identify culls or birds to butcher.