Is there a way to safely tag / Mark poults?

[HeritageFan]

So, I’ve had turkeys for about a year (so, total greenhorn). But. I just had some poults hatch in my ‘bator, and looking at head shape/ behavior and curious if my early sense of sex is accurate.
So. They are turkeys. They peck at EvErYtHiNg!! I don’t feel like a leg band is necessarily a safe option, but I’ve never had experience w that w turkeys.
I’m sort of leaning towards marking my suspected Toms w a blue or black sharpie at the top of their back (seems like the least likely color for not drawing attention?) - and I know I would need to really keep after it frequently, but I also don’t want them to become a target for the “different” Mark.
Has anyone tried to Mark/ tag turkeys long term?
Does anyone have any other creative ideas?

 

[casportpony]

I use colored zip ties on mine. If you have many of them, you can use multiple zip ties. I use 4" on them when they are small like this.

 

[R2elk]

When I need to "mark" poults, I use the little rubber band type of leg markers that come in multiple colors or small zip ties. Just be very careful that you keep an eye on them and make sure that you remove and replace before the bands get too tight due to leg growth.

If I recall correctly, one member recently posted about using wing bans.

On adults I use various colored zip ties. Try to keep a close eye on them as the adults can and will clip their leg bands off from time to time. You also want to use UV resistant ties.

 

[casportpony]

Just be very careful that you keep an eye on them and make sure that remove and replace before the bands get too tight due to leg growth.

Yes, this is very important!

If I recall correctly, one member recently posted about using wing bans.

@KsKingBee uses them. I think he uses leg bands too.

On adults I use various colored zip ties. Try to keep a close eye on them as the adults can and will clip their leg bands off from time to time. You also want to use UV resistant ties.

I do too. For the adults, I use an 8" zip-tie and do have to replace them because they do get brittle from exposure to sunlight.

 

[R2elk]

For the adults, I use an 8" zip-tie and do have to replace them because they do get brittle from exposure to sunlight.

My adult turkeys will clip them right off if they are in the mood to do so.

 

[KsKingBee]

At Spring Creek Peafowl we double wing tag and leg band all birds. Chicks get unique colored leg bands as they come out of the hatcher. This gives us a quick and easy way to determine what pen they came from and tells us what color they are.

At two weeks of age they get their permanent wing tags on both wings with year, serial number, and farm name. This lets us track the birds and provide any customer with genetic information in the following years. And if they lose the leg bands we can look them up and replace them with the appropriate colors.

Do be careful with the zip tie leg bands, we have to change the bands about four times before they get their adult-sized bands

For more information on how to apply visit Spring Creek Peafowl FaceBook page.

 

[casportpony]

Just got these:
https://www.amazon.com/Multicolor-S...3047&s=hi&sprefix=b0bwnzjf3f,tools,138&sr=1-1

These will be perfect for us. Now I need to find a matching set of bigger ones.

 

[KsKingBee]

Just got these:
https://www.amazon.com/Multicolor-Self-Locking-Assorted-Colorful-Resistant/dp/B0BWNZJF3F/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2ESV7M71UKKCQ&keywords=b0bwnzjf3f&qid=1686083047&s=hi&sprefix=b0bwnzjf3f,tools,138&sr=1-1
View attachment 3531433
View attachment 3531430

These will be perfect for us. Now I need to find a matching set of bigger ones.

For short term those will be ok but when you buy the larger ones for permeant ID do not use the iridescent colors, they fade and get confused with other colors. The bright green will get confused with yellow, and the pink, red, and orange will get confusing too. Go with dark or vivid colors, nothing too close to another color. Also, if you are keeping them in wire floor cages, the heads of the zips can get caught in the wire, especially 1/4' wire. I broke the legs on three chicks when I put two zips on the same leg.