marking silkie chicks

[tiki244]

I have some silver white chicks that I would like to mark, so that I can identify them when they are older. Also I would like to mark some chicks that come from different lines. How can I do this at 3 weeks old? Any suggestions? The silver white chicks are easy to tell with the down color, but I think I may get them confused when they feather out, which they are doing now.

 

[willowcol]

You can put leg bands on them

 

[tiki244]

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? and just continue to change the size as the grow? duh what a novel idea

Now why didn't I think of that!

 

[Poulets De Cajun]

mini colored zip ties are great also, just be sure to pay attention to how long they are there and cut them off and change them out often.

 

[nzpouter]

dip them in food colouring...

 

[Poulets De Cajun]

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[Sonoran Silkies]

You can also toe punch

 

[HatTrickSilkies]

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If you need to mark very young chicks you can put some nail polish on their toe. Once the wing feathers start to come in at a few weeks of age, you can apply some polish to the wing feathers - it should last a few weeks.

If you need to mark older birds, colored hair spray (like you see at Halloween time) works like a charm. I use colored dots on their tail or cushion to color code them. It's non-toxic and washable.

 

[SundownWaterfowl]

I use colored velco on my Silkies. I keep that on until I can switch them to "grown up" plastic numbered bands.

 

[Smoky73]

I use colored pipe cleaners for leg bands.