Leg bands?

[Mosey2003]

Having read through all these comments, I think the key might be getting a real, heavy duty tie that has good, aggressive teeth. The first time I used zip ties, I got some from my dad in his shop, and he buys good ones. The ones I bought were light and thin, I hadn't thought about durability since I wasn't actually going to use them to secure something.

 

[lazy gardener]

Thank you. And your experience was disconcerting, to say the least. I'm using Walmart zips now, so I'll be sure to keep a close eye on them.

 

[Mosey2003]

Yeah, I was shocked myself! I'll feel up all the zip ties at the store now (lol) and do a little trial and report back. I'm not that thrilled with the spirals anyway, they lost all their color pretty quickly.

 

[pilotswife]

I got some nice bands from Tractor Supply, I have them on two of my girls and haven't had the first issue. I did get a size larger than I thought I needed to prevent them from being too tight or getting stuck. So far, so good.

 

[aart]

Key to zips is to 'feel' the tooth strength.
If it feels mushy or soft as you tighten, it may not work well.
Stiffness of band can play a part too and actually back bend repeatedly to soften the stiffness for eaiser application.
I use the skinny ones, teeth are plenty strong and actually run a spare tail thru the latch a few times to soften those as they are very hard to pull to.

 

[cavemanrich]

Sherlock Holmes ;; here.
Only thing I can think of is this,,, The chicken sees the band and ether tries to eat it (red color especially), or remove it. Squeezes it at just the correct position with beak. (probably not on first try) and weak band does tighten up.
Solution;; as other stated here. Use heavier/thicker/ zip ties.
To all those using those small ties with no problem, stay with it since your chickens are not up to squeezing them.