Incubation newbie has questions about differentiating chicks

[happymom99]

Hi there. We are going to be incubating eggs for the first time. We are buying 24 fertile eggs from a local farmer. The eggs are all different colors. Is there a trick or a way, after the chicks hatch, that I can mark them somehow so I can know which ones came from which color egg? A chick leg band maybe? Thank you.

 

[Rose Quartz]

Hi there. We are going to be incubating eggs for the first time. We are buying 24 fertile eggs from a local farmer. The eggs are all different colors. Is there a trick or a way, after the chicks hatch, that I can mark them somehow so I can know which ones came from which color egg? A chick leg band maybe? Thank you.

All the leg bands I've bought have fallen off day olds. The only thing I can get to stay on is zip ties, but you have to be really careful with them, they need to be removed before their leg fully fills the gap. Nail clippers works best for me for removing them.

Or, you could do up multiple brooder boxes and move them out of the incu as they hatch. You won't want any chicks alone though so that might not work.

 

[CindyinSD]

You could try a little food coloring or dye. There are chick leg rings available on Amazon and probably in your local farm store. I would look for the spiral ones because they seem like they may have a little give. Nevertheless it is vital that you check the rings frequently (at least once a week) to make sure they're not tight and have the next size up ready for when they are. If you have a lot of chicks, this can become a pain very quickly. They bounce around like little motorized rubber balls.