Toe punching

[jbkirk]

What I would like to know is..
1. So does toe punching make the chicken bleed?
2. At what age can you do it?
3. Is slitting it better than making a hole?

EDIT: please select two answers in the poll!!!

 

[Mojo12]

What the heck is Toe-Punching? Sounds weird. Like ear piercing or something...a ring in a hog or bull nose? What is this toe punching? My imagination is running wild with everything from poking a hole (???) in a toe (why???) to breaking toes (again, why???) to ...well...I don't know, but none of it is looking very good to me right now......

 

[Fred's Hens]

Similar to a chipping dogs or ear tag on cattle, for comparisons.

It's pretty straight forward. We toe punch to ID the chicks. We need a permanent way to ID them. Later, leg bands can serve as a visual ID. It's is a bit like ear piercing. It just pierces the soft web tissue between the webbing of the toes, not the toes themselves, of course.

By using different combinations, up to 48 or 64 unique punch combinations can be made, in the way just 9 numbers can be used to make thousands and thousands of unique license plate numbers for cars.

Punches can be purchased from any poultry supple company online.

Murray McMurray Hatchery - Toe Punch

 

[jbkirk]

Does anyone else have any opinion?

 

[Dead Rabbit]

Don't worry JB. They will be fine.

 

[ChickenLegs13]

I've never had a reason to toe punch but if I ever had a reason to I wouldn't hesitate to do it. Punching would give neater & cleaner results than slitting.
Whether it's inhumane or not, I have more important things in life to worry about.
I voted punch & humane.

 

[Dead Rabbit]

I've never had a reason to toe punch but if I ever had a reason to I wouldn't hesitate to do it. Punching would give neater & cleaner results than slitting.
Whether it's inhumane or not, I have more important things in life to worry about.
I voted punch & humane.

Actually the opposite is true. Cutting the web is a much neater and cleaner way to mark. Punches can and many times will tear loose as the fowl grows. Then it's hard to tell if it's a punch it a cut. Cutting is much easier to actually do on a day old chick than a punching tool. Punches don't always completely remove the little flesh Chet. And punches can actually grow back closed while the cutting and removing web never regrows. I quit punching yrs ago in favor of the cutting