Silkies / leg bands

[Three Cedars Silkies]

Quote:
This is where I got mine....


http://www.poultrymansupply.com/

 

[Three Cedars Silkies]

I agree that the bands can be risky and if I hatched lots of chicks I wouldn't use them at all. Because I hatch fewer numbers of chicks and we handle all of them most everyday, we can keep a good eye on the bands and change them to the next size up as needed.

I NEVER sell a chick or bird with the band on.

 

[ultasol]

I don't handle my chicks every day as I don't want to stress them out. Even the tamest poultry is stressed by handling. I do observe them daily, but to see those bands I have to pick them up as the foot feathering otherwise obscures the band. I used the spiral colored non-numbered bands on some growouts to mark the ones I think are boys (just to test my own early-sexing ability), but I might have to switch to something else.

 

[destiny_56085]

You can get the numbered bandettes and spiral bands from here. They also have wing bands and toe punches. The silkies take usually the size 9 plastic bandettes. Bigger males I use a 10 though. I use them as temporary bands ont he youngsters to tell who is who.
http://www.cutlersupply.com/cart/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=6&zenid=1uu4r9p0voo128u28c0bk8lnc6

I usually buy from Smith Poultry Supply at our shows though. Cheapest price and they set up booths so I don't have to pay shipping. I love their aluminum numbered bands. The sizing is way different on them than the plastic though. I use either a 20 or 22 on my silkies. This is what I put on the birds in my breeder pens as permanent ID. I get them in red, green, blue, gold, silver, etc. They also have the numbered plastic bandettes for only $5.50 a box.
http://www.poultrysupplies.com/

I also ordered personalized wing bands this year. There has been alot of problems with theft of birds at our shows lately and having my name permanently on a bird is a good way to prevent this problem. They are a huge pain in the butt to get on though. I ordered 500 of them thank god. I went through 25 just on the first 5 birds I was banding to get them in place.
http://www.randallburkey.com/

I think the ABA bands are a super idea. I just haven't gotten around to ordering them yet.

I like the neon zip ties but you really have to keep watch on them. You can go to the auto parts stores and buy a huge canister of them for super cheap. What works even better than spray paint is nail polish. Ok girls how many of us don't already have about 50 old bottles sitting around that are all gooed up and we wouldn't use on ourselves anymore? If you get those cheap Sally Hansen ones they have all sort of odd colors...neon green, blue, orange, etc. Well that stuff does not come off for a long time. Mark a toe with the color of your choosing when they come out of the incubator. If you really want it off, take a paper towel and some polish remover. Its not near as gaudy as spray paint all over their down. It even works really well on waterfowl because it doesn't come off in the water/wet bedding.
Amy

 

[ultasol]

Great idea Amy (with the nailpolish). I have plenty of old bottles that I can use, and it will show up on the dark birds. I didn't want to resort to spray paint. I have to go mark some later today. I need to sort the keepers from the sale birds as I am going to the Montana show on May 1st, so I need to mark them in preparation.


I was hoping to get some wingbands from a vendor at the PNPA show this year, but the vendor that was there last year wasn't present this show.

I don't know if our area is having the same degree of theft problems that your area is, but I do like the wingbands. What age are you applying them at? I am going to either wingband or use aluminum locking bands on my show birds.

 

[SilkieTime]

Thank you oldtimegator, I've been using the spiral plastic bands. I'm reading about the wingbands. Good information here.

 

[destiny_56085]

Well after being hit by thieves this last week, I found that all it takes for a thief to claim your bird permanently is to take your band off and say its theirs. Wow.... That was the lovely news from the sheriff at least. I went through all my birds with the personalized wingbands as well at the heavy duty aluminum legbands. I could do microchipping but it would still have to take someone ever finding that certain bird and turning it into a vet to scan for it. They do have some new technology out there with GPS trackers on collars for dogs so far. Wouldn't that be cool if they could implant one of those?

 

[destiny_56085]

oopp...BYC was stalling and accidentally double posted

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

At least one purpose of using seamless bands is to deter thieves. The bands cannot be removed, at least not without a great deal of risk to seriously injuring the bird.

I have long wondered about tatooing--perhaps in the wingpit area where there are fewer feathers.

 

[destiny_56085]

Would a tattoo show up very well on the black skin of a silkie?

On the seamless bands, they are just made out of a hard plastic. I am very familiar with them because of my pigeons. All it takes is a tin snips to cut them off. The racing homer guys cut off alot of bands. If they get culls and don't want a million calls of birds found in their name, they cut them off before they sell them. You see it alot with the crooked pigeon guys. They will sell birds that are really old and carefully superglue a band together to pass them off as a much younger bird for selling. They will also use vaseline and slide on a band that is the wrong size for the designated breed. These bands are a good deterrant because it takes more than 10 seconds to get them off usually but no guarantee. You can also protect yourself from crooked buyers with these. If you sell to them and they claim that a bird arrived dead or something, you have them send the band back intact. Then you know that they had to take the leg of the bird off to get it. Some people just try to get their money back for the birds and still have the birds in their hand for breeding too.