Thank you so much for touching on the subject of banding. Sure is an eye opener to realize how easy it is to loose a bird at a show.. You know.. perhaps... there needs to be a unified way to mark all the birds the same... I think the wing bands are probably the best solution. It could be worked like the AKC with papers... Register a bird... get a record and a wing band for each bird you want to show. You could use that number for that bird each time you enter him/her into any show. Thus it would be very easy to keep complete show records of all your birds
It is just a thought.
I bought a toe puncher last yr.... and forgot to mark my chicks this year.... UGGGGG So they are banded again this yr.
I would like to know how to put the bands on the winds and where before actually purchasing any.
With a quality wire cutter, I could remove a wing or leg band in about a second. If a thief wants to steal, they will do it. A lock only slows them down enough to hopefully deter them. When you have 10,000+ birds cooping out at one time, it is a madhouse! Even with 500 birds cooping out, it can be confusing. Many of use will place zip ties on our coop doors to make it a bit more difficult for mistakes. At Crossroads I started with our Best of Breed Orp Bantam in the junior show and and boxed our birds as fast as possible. Then took the cartons to my wife, waiting at the booth. We stacked all our birds at our booth, then rechecked to make certain we had all of ours and none of yours. Before coop out we had our cartons placed under the coops ready to coop out.
Crossroads coop out was organized chaos. Most in the Fancy are good honest folks. Mistakes and disagreements happen. But there are a few thieves.
One of my pet peeves is folks who steal eggs. A fellow at Shawnee, OK show years ago stole an OEGB egg. He did not raise any. The next year he won Best of Variety on a pullet. We all knew he had stolen the egg. That is why many shows say that the eggs laid at the show are the property of the show. Many a show I was the one who gathered the eggs and broke them in the trash can.
Leg bands deter losses at a show, but can not stop them.
As for missing the toe punching. You can still toe punch at several months old. If the toe punch will slide over the web, it should work.
Last edited:
