Texas

[ShadowsFIAL]

How do you guys ID your birds? I can tell all of mine apart, but I wanted something for them that I could put their name on like my dogs and cats have haha. Have any of you had chicken collars? Or the hen saddles, would there be a blade to attach a name?

 

[RoosterCogburn7]

How do you guys ID your birds? I can tell all of mine apart, but I wanted something for them that I could put their name on like my dogs and cats have haha. Have any of you had chicken collars? Or the hen saddles, would there be a blade to attach a name?

They all have names, usually, given by the kids. There are exceptions, like the PBR hen, I call her whiny bird. She likes to whine and follow the rooster, until he decides to mate with her, usually twice or so when they are free ranging. She likes to chase off the birds, even though he is by no means monogamous, she seems to be under the impression he should be. He seems to have a preference for the darker colored birds, the PBR's and all the brown EE's.

He is a happy Rooster, a big regal guy like Henry the VIII, which makes sense, considering he has 8 hens to play with all day every day exclusively.

He has some powerful legs. Even with a clipped wing, he jumped so high, he nearly cleared a 4 foot fence. I listen to him crow after I get up for work. I like his crow. I have even changed it up to mess with my daughter instead of Cocka-doodle-doo, it is "Where's the tiny Boo?" Which is my nickname for my daughter. She has gotten so used to it, when she hears him crow during the day she says, "I'm right here, silly rooster."

 

[bnjrob]

How do you guys ID your birds? I can tell all of mine apart, but I wanted something for them that I could put their name on like my dogs and cats have haha. Have any of you had chicken collars? Or the hen saddles, would there be a blade to attach a name?

We use a combination of colored metal leg bands that have numbers pressed into them, along with colored zip ties and colored plastic split rings, and then these go on different legs in different combinations depending on the bird. They tell us what year the bird was born, differentiate between bloodlines and between sires, and also differentiate between individual birds. And records we keep that correlate to the number and color of the metal leg band let us keep notes on the individual bird as well.

 

[ShadowsFIAL]

We use a combination of colored metal leg bands that have numbers pressed into them, along with colored zip ties and colored plastic split rings, and then these go on different legs in different combinations depending on the bird.  They tell us what year the bird was born, differentiate between bloodlines and between sires, and also differentiate between individual birds.  And records we keep that correlate to the number and color of the metal leg band let us keep notes on the individual bird as well.

I don't have a huge flock so I wasn't really interested in the leg bands. This is more just for pet purposes. So I was thinking of collars, harnesses, or hen saddles that I could put a name tag on with our address, or embroider the hens names on the saddles. I didn't know if anyone had tried this.

 

[bnjrob]

I don't have a huge flock so I wasn't really interested in the leg bands. This is more just for pet purposes. So I was thinking of collars, harnesses, or hen saddles that I could put a name tag on with our address, or embroider the hens names on the saddles. I didn't know if anyone had tried this.

Those kinds of things could pose a danger if the chickens got caught on something. A collar could choke them and anything like that could be a hazard if a predator was after them because they might be able to get away unless a predator were able to hook a claw or a tooth around the collar/harness/saddle.

 

[RoosterCogburn7]

I don't have a huge flock so I wasn't really interested in the leg bands. This is more just for pet purposes. So I was thinking of collars, harnesses, or hen saddles that I could put a name tag on with our address, or embroider the hens names on the saddles. I didn't know if anyone had tried this.

Diversity is the spice of life. I don't have just one breed of chicken. Also, EE's are so diverse you can tell them apart. If I had just one breed, I could see the point of banding. I don't plan on harnessing chickens. That seems unnatural.

 

[ShadowsFIAL]

Oh well. It was worth a shot.

 

[comptonkids]

I don't have a huge flock
but I'm waiting on some leg bands to come in

Some are very easy for me to tell apart

I am going to number the band's with a sharpie
I have a "note" on my phone with the breeds and names, I'll assign a number to each one and keep track that way

I very much plan on expanding once we get into a place with more land, so this will be useful then also

 

[RoosterCogburn7]

Lucky the Rooster became a father today. We had a broody EE hen and we put the PBR egg that Lucky fertilized and it hatched today. So an EE father and PBR mix.

 

[kenmlang]

Diversity is the spice of life. I don't have just one breed of chicken. Also, EE's are so diverse you can tell them apart. If I had just one breed, I could see the point of banding. I don't plan on harnessing chickens. That seems unnatural.

Amen Brother!!