Leg bands on fluffy feet

[Magpie2]

I have a pair of chocolate Maran pullets which look almost identical, I’d like to give them leg bands to tell them apart more easily but being Marans, they have lightly feathered legs. Does anyone know of a type of ring that would be suitable for feathered legs or some other alternative?

 

[picklestheduck]

I’ve put normal plastic bands on feathered legs in a pinch. I actually did it with my contact info on it during a severe tornado watch. I was just sure we’d get hit so I wanted to be safe. I just like to get them a size a bit bigger since the feathers on my birds feet held the wonder ring on it.
Edit- can you post pictures of their feathered feet and legs?

 

[Stravager]

I once heard someone say they used nail polish on their chickens toes. I'd guess nail polish on one or two toes or a livestock marker spray which would be water resistant...don't know of any leg bands that are directly marketed for fluffy feet.

 

[wrathsfarm]

I might not be much help but I just use colored zipties on my Marans. Haven't lost one yet but I have had to replace them as their legs grow.

They sell different width/thickness also.

Very pretty girls you have...

Edited to add pic.. she has 2 red zipties.

 

[aart]

I use zip ties too....has been fine with the few feather leggeds I've had.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/leg-banding-with-zipties.68075/

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

I have used zip ties and currently use spiral leg bands without issue on my Cochins, whose feet are abundantly feathered. The only type of leg band I had issue with on feathered feet was the elastic kind, which tended to grip onto the feathers and tear them out as the band was moved around or when I tried to remove it.

If you only have the two birds to mark, then I'd recommend you just get a pack of multicolored zip ties. Then you'll have the rest of the zip ties to use for other projects instead of a whole pack of leg bands that don't really have any other uses. I'm always using zip ties for one thing or another around here!

 

[Magpie2]

I’ve put normal plastic bands on feathered legs in a pinch. I actually did it with my contact info on it during a severe tornado watch. I was just sure we’d get hit so I wanted to be safe. I just like to get them a size a bit bigger since the feathers on my birds feet held the wonder ring on it.
Edit- can you post pictures of their feathered feet and legs?

That’s crazy! Were you and your birds okay?

They’re pretty hard to photograph when they’re not loafed but I tried to find the best shots of their legs I could.

Fun fact! The feathers are actually one of the three best ways to tell them apart visually, “Chunk” has feathers all the way down her outer toes and “Chip” only has feathers on her legs, no toe feathers. The other two ways to tell them apart are that Chip’s eyes are orange and Chunk’s are brown, Chip’s skin is lighter and more yellow and Chunk’s is darker and more gray.
They’re Chip and Chunk the chocolate chicks, adopted children of Cookie the splash Jersey Giant. I tossed in an extra shot of them with her after they decided to come inside and beg for treats

 

[Magpie2]

I might not be much help but I just use colored zipties on my Marans. Haven't lost one yet but I have had to replace them as their legs grow.
View attachment 3704755They sell different width/thickness also.

Very pretty girls you have...

Edited to add pic.. she has 2 red zipties.

One of them (Chip) had little white marks behind her eyes when she was little so I didn’t struggle to tell them apart while they were still growing but now I can only tell them apart if there’s ample light to see the differences.

My beautiful babies
I can’t wait to see their eggs, they’re due to lay in January.

 

[wrathsfarm]

Excuse my ignorance but where did you get these? I've been doing some searching and I'm finding out their a hybrid of some sort?

One source says they put a Chocolate Orpington roo over Lavender Marans hen but that's about as far as I got, other than a thread here on BYC I haven't read all the way thru.

https://www.lockwoodfeatherfarm.com/goldsilver-partridge-orp

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/chocolate-marans.739771/

 

[Magpie2]

Excuse my ignorance but where did you get these? I've been doing some searching and I'm finding out their a hybrid of some sort?

One source says they put a Chocolate Orpington roo over Lavender Marans hen but that's about as far as I got, other than a thread here on BYC I haven't read all the way thru.

https://www.lockwoodfeatherfarm.com/goldsilver-partridge-orp

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/chocolate-marans.739771/

I got these two from Lockwood Feather Farm. She was experimenting with auto sexed chocolate Marans and I managed to scoop the only two girls from her first hatch.
Her normal chocolate Marans might be a little different, I’ve noticed these two are such a dark brown that they’re almost black, they also have a green iridescence which I thought only black birds had but they are still brown when compared to a black bird.