what ink do hatcheries use to mark their chicks?

[hoppy]

does any one know what kind of ink the hatcheries use to mark their chicks? I have gotten some with orange like ink that lasted a few weeks. I need to mark a few after they are sexed. if you know what they use, do you know where I can find some?

 

[briana1975]

I do not know what they use, but I used a crayola washable marker to mark one of my poults. We got two and they looked identical and I need to tell which one was drinking and eating or if both were. It wore off in about a week.

 

[rodriguezpoultry]

You could just use some food coloring on their heads.

 

[hoppy]

I have used a sharpie but that doesn't last very long. I was thinking maybe tatoo ink? or cake food coloring paste but I want something bright to stand out.

 

[chickens4me]

I don't know either, but I have used food coloring to mark my chicks before.

 

[ghulst]

Magic Marker

 

[melissastraka]

I would just get colored zip ties and put a loose (notice i said loose) band on the legs. That is how i sex my babies when i can finally tell. Blue for boys and red for girls...they didnt have pink at the home depot and when i asked, the sales guy looked at me like i was nuts!

Thank god i didnt tell him it was for chickens!

 

[ntiveheart]

i used wilton's paste food coloring to mark my leghorns. it had real staying power and lasted a few weeks. i just used a qtip and painted a strip down the center of their little heads....worked like a charm for me.........and comes in a gazillion colors too lol

 

[hoppy]

thank you all for the suggestions, I'm going to use the wilton food colorign paste.