Opinion question about leg bands

[Jenbirdee]

get a pair of Medical scissors the kind for bandage removal. It’s much safer to remove a legband with those.

 

[Egg Snatcher]

Zip ties also work. You'll still have to watch depending on how small you make the zip tie around the leg.

 

[ChickenTenderz]

We have used nail polish on the toenails when they are very small, it did have to be reapplied weekly (don't use red)
When they are around 12 weeks we start using colored zip ties (cut the extra length off) and check them every few weeks to make sure they aren't too tight. All of our chickens have leg bands and it helps out alot. My husband doesn't know each chicken's name but he can tell me the RIR with green leg band (Cinnamon) was limping or the RIR pullet with the black leg band flew over the fence again. We only have red, black, yellow & green but there are a variety of colors like blue, orange, pink & purple available.

 

[FalseToast]

Yes, they will outgrow bands while growing up. It’s good that you are keeping an eye on this. Do not tie anything in them, it is better to buy larger bands, or even use zip ties. But bc they are growing, you’ll change them several times before they are full grown. Avoid red bc they peck at red things.

Permanent:

1. they sell special hole punches for the webbing between toes. It is designed for chicks/chickens and is permanent. Look at places that supply livestock tools.

2. Wing bands. Usually attached to chicks, it does not hinder them, but I am not experienced with these. Also sold with livestock/poultry supply houses. I’ve seen them at poultry shows too. They come in various sizes and requires a certain tool to apply.

Are you certain about the red leg bands being a cause for aggression? My dominant hen has a red band—for comedic reasons, because every hen is scared of her and she goes out of her way to harass/assault them for… no reason, so red for anger problems—and hasn’t had any issues. I find chickens to curiously peck things to sort of “taste” it first, and bands don’t usually produce blood like an open wound would. Am I just lucky, or could it be the last thing I mentioned?

 

[Ridgerunner]

Are you certain about the red leg bands being a cause for aggression?

I use the red bands along with other colors. Red has never been a problem for me. Others on here say they have been a problem. I'm not going to argue with them, we can all get different results. Personally I've never seen any issues due to colors.

 

[Debbie292d]

Are you certain about the red leg bands being a cause for aggression? My dominant hen has a red band—for comedic reasons, because every hen is scared of her and she goes out of her way to harass/assault them for… no reason, so red for anger problems—and hasn’t had any issues. I find chickens to curiously peck things to sort of “taste” it first, and bands don’t usually produce blood like an open wound would. Am I just lucky, or could it be the last thing I mentioned?

Hubby is an electrician and has tiny zip ties. His only come in red, so that's all we use. We don't use them often but when we have, I've never seen a problem.

 

[wrathsfarm]

Are you certain about the red leg bands being a cause for aggression? My dominant hen has a red band—for comedic reasons, because every hen is scared of her and she goes out of her way to harass/assault them for… no reason, so red for anger problems—and hasn’t had any issues. I find chickens to curiously peck things to sort of “taste” it first, and bands don’t usually produce blood like an open wound would. Am I just lucky, or could it be the last thing I mentioned?

I've also got a hen banded red, 4 cockerels and 4 pullets all banded red and haven't seen any issues.

 

[SwampPrincessChick]

Are you certain about the red leg bands being a cause for aggression?

I had an Easter Egger hen named Rosemary that had a red leg band. The other Easter Eggers had yellow, blue, purple, and green respectively. Rosemary's band was an interest to the others and they would frequently peck on it－and after that, peck on her neck for some reason, which resulted in some scruffy feathers in that area. The only other time I have used red as a leg band is on a male Polish when he was young but since he was a cockerel and not included in the pecking order, his band would mostly go ignored except when a pullet would get curious. Using a red leg band would have less of a chance for bullying behavior targeted towards that bird than having a dot of red color on the leg or foot, which looks way more like blood (and tastes like chicken when they peck on it).

 

[TJAnonymous]

I've used every color of the rainbow, including red, and never had any pecking or aggression issues.

I also have used red permanent marker to put a dot on top of a chick's head before they had actual feathers (just fuzz) and still never had any pecking or aggression issues with that either.

 

[Welsummer42]

Do not use hole-punching in the toe webbing, that causes unnecessary harm to the chicken, and therefore I consider it a type of abuse. It also prevents them from foraging as well as a chicken with normal foot webbing because they cannot kick up as much dirt which parts of the web missing.

I'm sorry but this isn't true. You aren't removing part of the bird. You are putting a small hole in the webbing, similar to the holes humans put in their ears for earings, just without the earing. The bird is able to forage just fine as they still have webbing between the toes and the hole is so small it doesn't affect their digging. Also chickens don't use the webbing to dig, they use their toes.