Pigeon Talk

[cavemanrich]

Awesome, thank you! Do you need any special tools to put them on? I have jewelry plyers of various sizes if pinching them on with my hands won't work.
Also, do you think 8mm is a good size?

8mm is a good size, for most pigeons. Larger size for pigeons with feathered feet. Or for larger pigeons like King Pigeons.
The bands you linked to do suggest using a special tool. It is quite pricey... You could get away using a pair of regular pliers,,,,,,, but you risk breaking pigeons' leg if something should go wrong,,,,,,,,,,, like pliers slipping off ring, and twisting leg in wrong way. I am capable of taking a regular pair of pliers, and converting into one such as they sell. Not everyone has such tooling.
$90....... ouch

I would make area I highlighted in yellow, SMOOTH, not serrated. This way it does not deface the outside of band.

Your second option are the plastic snap on type. These are reasonably priced. These are from a US seller,, so arrive quickly. Those from China Sellers are less money,, but delivery is longer.
In the past,, I used the BLUE, and the PINK to ID my pigeons' genders at a glance. It helped since all my pigeons were white. (and plenty of them at times).. This was in addition to their permanent bands on other leg.
You can make these plastic bands more open-proof, if you dab a drop of SUPER GLUE into locking joint.

Get one of these engraving tool and scribe whatever information you desire. Most peeps just put their contact phone number.

 

[Qwerty3159]

I was definitely looking at snap ons for a while, but I couldn't find anywhere that customizes them. Where do you get yours? Is there a minimum order?

You have to order them overseas from Ebay. I was a little cautious but everything went fine, I think it took about a month which is quicker than the wait time on some more popular pigeon sites, I’ll try to find the vendor when I can later tonight.

 

[WVduckchick]

I use the 9mm bands from NPA, since my birds have feathered legs. One year I added the snap bands to the other leg in different colors, but ran out of colors so after one pass of each color, I drilled 2 holes in the band, then 3 holes! Lol
The past couple years, I haven’t bothered with the colored ones, but I love the idea of blue/pink for male/female. It would make it easier when I want to sell some.

I’ve banded 17 pigeons just this year!

 

[FrankieDoodle]

8mm is a good size, for most pigeons. Larger size for pigeons with feathered feet. Or for larger pigeons like King Pigeons.
The bands you linked to do suggest using a special tool. It is quite pricey... You could get away using a pair of regular pliers,,,,,,, but you risk breaking pigeons' leg if something should go wrong,,,,,,,,,,, like pliers slipping off ring, and twisting leg in wrong way. I am capable of taking a regular pair of pliers, and converting into one such as they sell. Not everyone has such tooling.
$90....... ouch
View attachment 3147801
I would make area I highlighted in yellow, SMOOTH, not serrated. This way it does not deface the outside of band.
View attachment 3147810

Your second option are the plastic snap on type. These are reasonably priced. These are from a US seller,, so arrive quickly. Those from China Sellers are less money,, but delivery is longer.
In the past,, I used the BLUE, and the PINK to ID my pigeons' genders at a glance. It helped since all my pigeons were white. (and plenty of them at times).. This was in addition to their permanent bands on other leg.
You can make these plastic bands more open-proof, if you dab a drop of SUPER GLUE into locking joint.
View attachment 3147814
Get one of these engraving tool and scribe whatever information you desire. Most peeps just put their contact phone number.
View attachment 3147815

This was really helpful, thank you! I’m glad there’s an option to make the tool myself. $90 for pliers I’d only use a few times is a little painful.
Pink and blue bands are a pretty cool idea!

You have to order them overseas from Ebay. I was a little cautious but everything went fine, I think it took about a month which is quicker than the wait time on some more popular pigeon sites, I’ll try to find the vendor when I can later tonight.

Good to know! I checked out eBay and they do have some pretty nice ones. It looks like most of them come in packs of 100 so that’s a bummer. I really don’t need more than 10 right now, and I have no place to put 90 more, lol. They’re surprisingly cheap, so I’ll have to remember that if I got more pigeons.

 

[Qwerty3159]

Had to deal with my first scalped youngster today. It’s not nearly as bad as a lot of pictures I’ve seen but there is still a quarter sized area on the back of the neck where the bully cock birds took the skin right off. No bone showing thankfully. I separated baby and flushed the wound with saline, then I put some ointment on it and loosely covered it with gauze so he looks like a babushka. Anything else I can do for him?

 

[Qwerty3159]

Scalped young bird is fully healed, but a little bald still. I have all my prisoners home set now except for one very old hen that I think would be hawk bait
Happy 4th!

 

[WVduckchick]

I have a squab with pretty bad splay leg. I noticed when I banded it (around 10 days old) that it wasn’t standing well, but it’s gotten worse. Now I think I’ve let it go too long. Is it fixable?

 

[cavemanrich]

I have a squab with pretty bad splay leg. I noticed when I banded it (around 10 days old) that it wasn’t standing well, but it’s gotten worse. Now I think I’ve let it go too long. Is it fixable?

I had that happen to my pigeon long ago. I kept putting on spraddle leg bands home made version. similar to photo. Pigeon grew to adult size,, and problem did not correct. One day pigeon did not return from a loft flight.

 

[RoostersAreAwesome]

I have a squab with pretty bad splay leg. I noticed when I banded it (around 10 days old) that it wasn’t standing well, but it’s gotten worse. Now I think I’ve let it go too long. Is it fixable?

I would try to fix it, are one of its legs splayed or both?

 

[sourland]

I have a squab with pretty bad splay leg. I noticed when I banded it (around 10 days old) that it wasn’t standing well, but it’s gotten worse. Now I think I’ve let it go too long. Is it fixable?

It may be too late, but I would give it a try, and would also increase nesting materials for help in traction.