Leg bands

[katharinad]

Quick question. What size of leg band to I need for Saxony ducks? Also does someone has a good source for them? My duckies are 2 days old, when do I best band them? I was thinking of a plastic type of band. Any cons or pros for those?
Thanks a bunch,
Katharina

 

[evergrowing]

I banded some ducklings with plastic bands and when the bands were getting to small they were REALLY hard to get off. I am now using telephone wire, (it's very thin and coated with plastic) and that is working much better. I just untwist it and loosen when needed. I got the plastic bands from a farm supply store and that was all they carried. The telephone wire came from a friend who has ducks and that's what he used.

Good luck.

 

[Amiga]

I have had marginal success with velcro wraps, keeping the soft side against their leg. The coloring quickly fades to a light brownish version of the color of the band, but it has been enough to work for me.

 

[FenDruadin]

Tiny colored zip ties (aka cable ties) work great for me. You do need a pair of sharp clips for removal, but they are cheap and readily available at hardware stores, and you can adjust them to any size.

Amiga--any updates on the velcro wrap idea? Is the fading the main problem? Have they stayed on really well? Inquiring minds want to know!

 

[katharinad]

They won't work for me. We are high in elevation and the UV just eats anything plastic. Zip ties are usually breaking off after one year. I haven't done it on duck, but on other things. I gave up on them completely. Still a good suggestion.
Katharina

 

[HottentotTeal]

I was looking up the same thing the other day and bookmarked this link:

http://www.brookfieldpoultryequipment.com/products.php?id=137

 

[Amiga]

iamcuriositycat,

everything other than the color is fine. They stay on, they stay on at the same size I put them on. Part of the reason the color "fades" is that I decided to put them fuzzy side in. The fuzzy side has the most color, and is still nice and bright. The fading is also due to the color of duck droppings and mud

they have been out in the sun and in the water and all over, the wraps are holding up.

Right now I just have wraps on two ducks. The wraps are orange and red. So next time I need to mark someone, I will use a darker color, a blue or a green and see how that goes.

 

[brenna]

Amiga, I might just be picturing this all wrong, but how are the velcro bands staying on? Isn't the fuzzy side the side that has to stick to the spiky side?
Is this two-sided velcro (fuzzy on one side and spiky on the other), or the kind where you have a strip of spiky and a separate strip of fuzzy?
I've heard of people using velcro to mark their ducks, and I'm interested in doing it, I just can't quite get how it's actually done.

I'm probably just overlooking the obvious...

 

[Amiga]

Brenna,

you answered your question. There is a product called velcro wraps. Fuzzy on one side, sticky on the other. It has a slot at one end and the other end tapers. Like a zip tie. You place the wrap around the leg, pull it small enough so it won't slip off but loose enough that it easily slides around the leg. Wrap it around itself another time or two, and snip the excess.

Be sure the fuzzy side (= softer side) goes against the leg.

 

[chasing ducks]

I ordered numbered bandettes because I have so many and I use a cataloging system to keep track of their health and breeding. It's really simple, unroll, wrap around the ducks leg and let go.