Wing band, leg bands etc

[Penturner]

I am aware that at least certain birds in a flock are tracked and recorded according to band either on the legs or the wings. I also realize that at least the leg bands are usually a color and a number. What I have not been able to find is any sort of explanation as to how these colors and numbers are use to track birds or breeding. In the case of a breeding program. is a particular hen assigned a color and then all the selected chicks from her eggs are banded with the same color. Is color used simply for an entire flock and all chicks produced from that flock are assigned a particular color according to what year it is? Basically how do the colors and numbers work to help track your birds, and exactly what are they tracking?
Specifically to my concerns is can they be used to track the fertility of a hen as well as the fertility of her descendants. you can swap fertility for any other trait as well.
Hope any of that makes since.

 

[alicefelldown]

It's kind of one of those things where you make your own system.

If you want to say, mark the hen with a pink band, and then give all her chicks pink bands with consecutive numbers then go for it!

There aren't any rules - it's just what works for you.