Marking your chickens?

[StrayMagnet]

Ok How dose ppl mark to ID their chicken?

When we adopt out our "Stray" Chicks. the ones that we keep, I'd love to Mark so I know who's who.. esp if they all look alike.

then when we Decide to try to hatch some Silks, Each of my kids want to have one of their own each and I"ll need to be able to ID who's chicken is whos to avoid the screams and howls of Sibling Rivalry "THAT ONES NOT YOUR"S IT"S MINE>> NOOOO T"S MINE!! THATS YOURS>> NOOOOO THATS YOURS!!!!" lol..

Color code the chicks BOOM problem solved

 

[Stacykins]

Zip ties make great legbands! They just have to be checked routinely for tightness and replaced with a looser band, especially if the chick/chicken isn't done growing yet. I know my local hardware store sells packs of zip ties with five florescent colors (though the yellow and lime green look very similar at a distance), 20 of each color. I applied them to a group of chicks that were all the same breed so I could tell who was who until they all developed unique personalities.

Make sure they are loose, but not loose enough to slip off the foot OR over the 'knee' of their upper leg. Make sure there is wiggle room though.

 

[Gypsy07]

Quote:
Yup, I use zipties in different colours. Some people like to avoid using the red ones in case it encourages pecking problems. But even with black, white, yellow, green and blue, if you put one band on each leg, you have 25 possible combinations. Enough to keep LOTS of chicks sorted out. If you ahve more than 25 you can always double up the bands on each leg. Like Stacykins says though, be very careful to keep tehm loose and keep checking them. And make sure no-one can escape. Imagine a chick with a leg band running loose, with the band getting tighter and tighter and eventually cutting into its leg... Ugh!