Keeping track of specific hens

[JacinLarkwell]

Usually people use legbands, different colors for different girls or different years if you get the same breed every year

 

[LikeTurkeys]

I agree, zipties work great. Though, I can currently tell all of my adult hens apart, it's only when they are small that the bands really help.

 

[BoPeep75]

I have had up to 10 SLW hens in one setting and laugh at me if you want, I raised them from chicks and I could tell them apart reliably, my mom and siblings were baffled but I could!

I always thought that I could but then I had to do a triple take this morning of my two similar looking ones and I thought I better not take my chances with a dozen or so identical ones walking around LOL

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Yeah, same them and then uae a sharpie and then put clear nail polish over to keep the number or letter on the bands.

They're a bit difficult at first (I practiced closing with one hand before I actually used a bird) but okay once you k ow how to close them. Most of mine I can do by my self, but occasionally I have a crazy bird that needs someone else to hold whole I band

 

[Ridgerunner]

Can you do it w one hand while holding the chicken in the other?

I have not tried those but if you wrap the chicken in a large towel, small sheet, or something like that you can do it yourself. I keep hold of the feet with one hand as I work with the zip ties. Wrap it around the wings. You can cover the head if you wish but I usually don't.

 

[SueT]

I got a pack of the spiral leg bands, as I have several pullets that look alike. I put one on the first girl, and she reached down w her beak and easily yanked it right off!

 

[SueT]

I use small zipties.

I use colored zip toes

So how loose should zip ties be, when first put on? I would put them on 9 month old pullets.
Thanks!
Sue

 

[Georgia460]

. That is actually what I was concerned about at first. I had thought about getting the open kind because I’m always wary of putting things on legs in case something gets caught or too tight. But then I wondered if they would easily get pulled off. Or possibly picked at by the other hens. I hadn’t even thought about the zip ties.

I've had spiral leg bands on my Welsummers for about 6 months and never had a problem with any of them trying to pull them off. The different colors have helped considerably to identify each of the girls. I like the fact that they are not too tight yet don't come off.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

I use those clasp rings from tsc. They seem to work fine, but you have to get the right size or they'll fall off. But they're large enough to right on too

 

[SueT]

I use those clasp rings from tsc. They seem to work fine, but you have to get the right size or they'll fall off. But they're large enough to right on too

Do you mean these EZ leg bands? Do they clasp easily? Would they be quicker to apply than zip ties? Can you do it w one hand while holding the chicken in the other?