What do you use to tell your chickens apart?

[BDutch]

Most of my chickens have different colours. I do have two black Dutch though, I couldn’t keep apart. I called them Black Pearl . A double name for both of them. I didn’t mind not being able to see the difference until one got broody and I tried to break her broodiness. I wanted to kick her out the nest but wasn’t sure if she already stopped being broody . And I didn’t want to disturb a laying hen (her twin sister).

At an impulse I took some paint I was working with (non toxic outdoor paint) and smeared a little white paint on a few feathers. It stayed there until she molted. After the molt one black got brown neck feathers and the other didn’t . Now these chickens have a personal name: totally Black and rusty Pearl.

Since last spring I have another twin pair. 2 bantam RIR. They look the same , but behave differently. Kwekky is always one of the first to free range if I open the door. And Katrientje is super shy and doesn’t trust me. She doesn’t come out of the coop until after I leave the door opening.

As long as I don’t have issues I don’t mind the look-a-likes. Next time I might buy rings. Advantage to wait until they have grown to adults is that there are no problems with tight rings. And bc I don’t breed with them there is no need to ring/ distinguish the chicks.

 

[HorseGirlAbby]

All of my chickens are different colors, except these two. They're twins, same mom, same dad, and both hatched on the same day. The only way I tell them apart is that Ivy (top) has a neater tail, and Mo (bottom) has one white toenail.

 

[Nashv755]

I have about 45 and most of mine look different other than about 5 phoenix's look like twins. It's funny that I have one phoenix I can tell apart from the rest but can't tell you what's different about her lol

 

[Cathy Roberts]

We only have one brown one and a black one, so it's easy to tell them apart.

 

[Kellyjenny]

I named all of mine Sasha, Daisy, Molly, Laverne, Shirley, and Queenie. I only know Molly but when people come over and ask me their names I just remember the names, and I pretend which is which.

 

[AgnesGray]

All of my Barred Rocks are named Betty, all of my Buff Orpingtons are named Penny, and so on... Within a breed group, we leg banded them all a different color with a single band like this or two different color zip ties when we run out of colors.

So identifying them sounds something like this: Purple Penny, Green Betty, and Yellow Penny were chasing Red Betty around the yard because Red Betty caught a mouse.

It's also how we keep track of their health records. Breed/Band color is enough to identify them so we know when they hatched and any notes or incidences we've notated over the course of their life.

 

[SpicyDisaster]

Ours are different enough that we can tell them apart when they are next to each other. When they are solo it gets much harder with the black australorps (one has a shorter more upright tail) and the buff orpingtons (fluffiness/sleekness of butt). My daughter can tell them apart from far away for the orpingtons, she says one has a serious face, one has a goofy face, and one has a derpy face.

 

[SpicyDisaster]

I bet! I'm wondering how long it will be until I get there. I have 12 now, but I always want more. Don't think I'll go more than 20.

Of course, I once said I'd not go above 4, so...

We started in the spring with 7.... then 13.....then 16

Hubby said no more than 20 this summer. Just last week he ok'd me going to 30 in the spring!

So I'm trying to be good and stay at ordering only 17 (we lost 4 and gained a chick this year) but my cart has 20 b/c I haven't been able to choose which breed of girls is going to get cut.

 

[LavenderDaFlerf]

I tell my black australorps apart by comb size shape and coloring their leg length tail shape and their eye shape and coloring.

 

[PopoMyers]

We started in the spring with 7.... then 13.....then 16

Hubby said no more than 20 this summer. Just last week he ok'd me going to 30 in the spring!

So I'm trying to be good and stay at ordering only 17 (we lost 4 and gained a chick this year) but my cart has 20 b/c I haven't been able to choose which breed of girls is going to get cut.

Serious chicken math.