Leg Bands

[1Rooster]

Please Please Please if you buy leg bands make sure they are the right size.
I have had chickens for 3 years and had never used them

I bought them for friend who had a NJ Giant and I have a BO who both turned out to be great brooders and moms.
We wanted to band them to make sure we kept them.

Due to unforseen circumstances I was given the NJG and 4 fertle eggs I had given her.
Turns out the NJG also is a fantastic mom and babies are now 6 weeks healthy and happy.

Noticed she seemed to be limping and last night took off the band it had cut into her leg.
She was a sweetheart to hold (even though had not ever really been handled) honestly Im not sure if she was being
strong for the chicks as they looked on. She is a real trooper!!

It started to bleed and I cleaned it with hydrogen peroxide and then put neosporin on a pad and fastened it with a bandaid.
Thought since she would be quiet all night in their coop (which is for them only)

This am I took it off and when she came down the ladder she really ate and scratched
have her on antibiotics now also just to be sure.. I hope I am doing all this correctly. Tonight I again cleaned it and put more neosporin and a bandaid to hold it.. It looked much much better tonight already. Im praying she will heal ok.

If anyone else has any suggestions please let me know.

My husband thinks we can use plastic electric ties and be safer.. has anyone ever used those?

Also please let your feed stores know to have employess tell everyone there are different sizes.

I feel so bad and try to be so careful with all of them.

I saved 2 chicks this year and one was because of this forum THANK YOU

So want to pass this on and hope it helps someone.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Good post. Cutler Supply has a chart online you can use to choose the right sizes, but that chart only works for hens. Roosters of those breeds need a larger size.

The zip ties do work. You can get packs of different colors, but make sure to get the brightly colored ones. The clear or sort of white/translucent ones are just too hard to see. And if you use them on growing chicks, you do need to check them and maybe replace them.

 

[BlazeJester]

I used zip ties for all 7 of my barred rocks - three got them on one side (right leg), the other four on the other side. The blue and orange bands worked best to be seen from afar on these yellow-legged girls.

We put the zip ties on when they were 18 weeks or so, and left space for them to grow. We could then tighten them if needed later if they were very loose.

A much cheaper solution than specialized bands if you only need them for a few chickens.

 

[1Rooster]

Quote:
Thank you very much will use the zip ties thanks again