I have part of my chicks hatching today and in two days more hatching from another breeder. (Same breed/same color) What can I use to mark safely mark the chicks so I will know who's who??
If they are going to be yellow chicks you can mark them with a green or dark colored marker on top of their heads this is what they use in hatcheries to mark the roo from pullets. If they are black humm I'm not sure. But there is an idea for light colored chicks! Good luck!
Tiny colored zip ties. Just make sure you leave them loose enough to be cut off and changed as the chick grows
I have also heard of pipe cleaner leg bands but you would have to be REALLY careful to tuck the ends in safely. I suppose you could stick a little tape over the sharp end.
My chicks that arrived from a hatchery today have different colored dots on their heads that appear to have been made with a Sharpie. They drew lines on the invoice in the same colors to tell me what they were and it looks like this was done with a Sharpie, so I assume the dots are the same.
Thanks I wasn't sure if the sharpies would have something harmful in them, they are black and blue chicks. I didn't think about food dye either. Would appreciate any more ideas. I have a couple of days to decide.
I took the little food coloring bottles and put the end of it against the cream colored butt fluff of my black babies and squeezed and scribbled and it dyed it bright blue for one batch, purple for the other. Shows like a neon light, can't hurt them, can't fall out (at least until the down falls out) and you have plenty of time to re color them if it starts to fade.
