Legbands for Chicks

[luvzmybabz]

I am needing to keep track of specific birds this hatch wondering if any of you all have used these and how you cut them off when they need to be changed (growth)
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/100-...ryZ50466QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
I may try vent sexing been thinking about it as I have vent sexed other birds ( OK they were a lot bigger , ostrichs )but same theory from what I have researched so far

 

[1acrefarm]

Someone may have a differing opinion but I would be very hesitant to use those. They make leg bands for chickens. I would be scared the cable ties could inadvertently get tightened and cut off the circulation. It is sometimes difficult to cut off a tight cable tie without nicking the surface of what it is on.

 

[silkiechicken]

To keep track of birds... if they are light colored, I just use collored sharpies and write on their backs/heads. Else you can use velcro strips. I would be weary of those, just incase it get's pulled too tight and you can't clip it off... They grow so fast that I've seen commercial "chick"bands slip onto feet at day one, and be embeded into their legs by the end of the first week of life.... they ended up the early culls.

 

[luvzmybabz]

I have been thinking about possibly making some from the velcro cord ties they sale at dollar tree just thought that chicks would probably peck at them a lot. So many chicken things to get done and not enough time to do them lol. Does it ever get easier or am I doomed, my sister and our mutual friend have dubbed me the crazy chicken lady and my son is the freaky chicken boy.

 

[kstaven]

I just steal the wifes nail polish and color one nail.

 

[Scrambled Egg]

For some reason I am having trouble posting a picture of one of my Rhode Island Reds wearing her legband. Hers is pink. They look so much alike, especially my Dominiques that I need the bands to tell who is who! They are size 12 legbands that I bought off ebay, 100 of them in lots of colors for 8 or 9 dollars I think. They are plastic, and round of cours and made like a jump ring for beading with the double circle. You hold their toes together (course when they are big enough to not shake them off) and slip it up onto their ankles, plenty big and stays on well. They will pick at it for an hour or so and then totally forget it. Very humane, easy, cheap, no pain, no pinching...Do an ebay search for chicken legbands and see what you find. Good luck

 

[Hannah'sPlaidChickens]

I used the bands you poated on your first topic, and they worked very well for me. They didn't get tightened, but were water-proof and loose, and stood up to the climates. However my problem came when it was time to take them off. I almost had a panic attack because I couldn't get them off. I finally did, but now I use just yarn around the ankle or nail polish. I wish I had been smart enough to ask somebody before using them. Apparently, I wasn't.

 

[Scrambled Egg]

The one time I took one off I just stretched it until it was big enough to remove, course it was not good for re-use after that but it came off easy enough.

Being a crocheter, I'm all for the yarn idea too!! Could have saved me 8 dollars had I thought of myself about 4 months ago, haha!!

 

[NewGuineaChooks]

What about tiny rubber-bands? Like you would use for a little girl's hair ties, or for cornrows? i just bought a multi-color pack of those to try on our girls. I thought, with the multiple colors, you could even make 2-color combinations stand for different things. They might work well, since they are stretchy enough to go over the toes, and also will stretch/break if the chicken gets trapped somewhere that could be damaging.

I do like the key-ring style spiral plastic leg-bands...but i can't spend the money for several packets of half-grown& full-grown sizes right now. So, maybe this will work instead.

 

[Scrambled Egg]

Hope this image insertion worked!! This is Polly proudly displaying the leg bands I have been talking about!