Leg band on cock

[MysteryChicken]

It was looser when I initially banded him at 20 weeks. The monitoring is how I noticed it was more snug. I'm thinking cockerels can grow longer before I band them to more accurately judge size. I couldn't find anything suggesting what age to put a more permanent band on the leg.



Definitely going over next time. What breed is your roo? He's beautiful!



Then I'm cutting it tonight.



Great idea! I actually may already have some.

Thanks everyone! I wanted to have good photos so I can put together a "how-to" on this style band (since the lack of led me to guesswork) and this will be a good "how-NOT-to" addition.

He's a Project color Orpington, I'm working on making.

 

[MysteryChicken]

For the sake of documentation, photos post removal with unbanded leg for comparison. Glad I was watching it as @Ridgerunner had suggested in another thread I had read.

The indentation where it was resting is very clear and I think I can see the barest beginnings of chafing right beneath the spur. Lesson learned. Thanks, all.

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You're welcome.

 

[RoosterWhisperer]

I banded my six hens and one cockerel Sept 12th at 20 weeks old. On all the birds, I used the 3/4" diameter (B) of the Aluminum leg bands for chickens from Pinnon Hatch. They are all Partridge Plymouth Rocks, too give an idea of sizing.
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The bands on the hens are doing well, but I'm concerned that I misjudged my cockerel. The band is not breaking skin, but I don't know how snug or loose it should be or if placement should have been above the spur versus under, which I did. There is still a centimeter or so of wiggle room and the band can be rotated with the only difficulty being a funny bends I plan to fix with pliers; the metal is very pliable.

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Does this look alright, at least for now? Or do I cut it off. He's my only cock as of now and each bird has a wing band with matching number.

I can try for more photos if needed, probably during daylight.

I'd say cut the leg band...
The band in the first picture looks kind of tight.

 

[RoosterWhisperer]

For the sake of documentation, photos post removal with unbanded leg for comparison. Glad I was watching it as @Ridgerunner had suggested in another thread I had read.

The indentation where it was resting is very clear and I think I can see the barest beginnings of chafing right beneath the spur. Lesson learned. Thanks, all.

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Good job on cutting the band off!
It does look like it was tight due to the gray mark on his leg.

 

[RevlisRemmah]

Thank you for documenting the process. Very helpful!!!!

 

[Weetamoo93]

Thank you for documenting the process. Very helpful!!!!

Happy to do so! I am pretty frustrated with the lack of information on using this style band. The next time I band (both wing and leg), I'm documenting the entire procedure to compose articles, including this mistake.

 

[Folly's place]

I wait as long as possible to leg band my birds, which is okay because I'm not doing individual matings, rather flock matings.
I'll be banding this year's birds mid-winter, when they are closer to nine months of age, and still, we've had bands get too snug by the following summer. And one of last spring's hens needs her leg band replaced now too.
It's necessary to watch those leg banded birds for issues, no matter which type of band used, because things happen, either because the bird looses a band (mostly the plastic ones) or the band causes injuries.
We had a rooster several years ago get his spiral plastic band above his hock and cause a nasty open wound through skin into bone and tendons. It healed, with vet care, poor guy, but wasn't pretty.
Mary

 

[Weetamoo93]

@Folly's place , considering they have their wing bands, I didn't need to rush into banding and will wait later, at least for cockerels. The bands are loose enough on the hens that I'm not sure I'd ever be concerned, save swelling from an injury. I posted pics of the bands on one hen in this thread.

I may invest in some plastic bandettes while I figure out my breeding strategy; I'll be raising chicks to keep for stock or cull for the table, so my wing band/ leg band idea may need to adapt. I know wing bands are easier when the bird is younger, and the permanent leg bands are applied later, so if I cull birds with wing bands at 20 weeks, my leg number system will be off.

We'll see. It's all a grand learning experience. Maybe I'll see if the blank bands from National Band and tag are compatible with my pliers and I'll just stamp the number in myself.

I like the permanence of the bands I chose, but they're a bigger pain, currently, to replace should something go awry.

 

[adgcountrygirl]

They're numbered, so he wouldn't get a new one. That's why I have the wing bands, though. The leg bands are just a LOT easier to read (versus trying to sort feather out of the way).

I'm thinking it'll be better to put above the spurs on future cocks. I've found very limited information on putting leg bands on chickens in general, so hopefully my next go round will provide some photo illustrations for an article on BYC.

For my roosters and Black Jersey Giant hens, I put my bands above the spur and use blue plastic numbered bands that have some give if you don't seal them. I never seal my bands. I use green on standard or smaller sized hens. They last fairly well. They can sometimes knock them off. If not replaced every few years they will break unless the bird is super docile. I had numbers wear off and the band was still fine. Most of the time, I didn't bother to change them because I could easily identify the bird by then. Any time I have birds that look too similar to identify, I try to keep a good band that is properly numbered and logged.