Wing bands

[zazouse]

Does anyone here put wing bands on their chicks?
I have some questions.

 

[AugeredIn]

Yes. What you need? It is pretty straight forward.

 

[Arbor]

Fire away zaz! We're all ears!

 

[zazouse]

Thank you.
1) at what age do you band pea chicks?

2) How can i get leg bands and wing bands with the same number or do they just have to have 2
different numbers?

I purchased some pea chicks while i was in Florida and they had two wing bands just in case they lost one and one had already lost one before i picked it out, now two more have lost their bands and i am afraid the greens will loose theirs and i will not know which is from imports and which is from American greens...
their bands are very little photo posted for reference , anyhow the other band just pulled out of the web where they are attached.

 

[AugeredIn]

Thank you.
1) at what age do you band pea chicks?

2) How can i get leg bands and wing bands with the same number or do they just have to have 2
different numbers?

I purchased some pea chicks while i was in Florida and they had two wing bands just in case they lost one and one had already lost one before i picked it out, now two more have lost their bands and i am afraid the greens will loose theirs and i will not know which is from imports and which is from American greens...
their bands are very little photo posted for reference , anyhow the other band just pulled out of the web where they are attached.

We band anywhere from hatch to two weeks. We use jiffy bands and we order two identical sets. One goes in each wing. Some people order one set and put consecutive numbers in each wing. Either way works. You just need to keep good records.

For the birds that have lost tags, you can retag them or use zip ties in the wing or one the leg. They are prone to come out in the first month. After that not so much in my experience.

 

[MinxFox]

You might be able to get some little colored rubber bands (like the ones used for mouth braces) to temporarily mark certain birds until they are old enough to put a permanent leg band on them.

 

[KsKingBee]

OMG! I could tell you a horror story about DW and those little rubber bands on her chickens. They do not stretch and will grow into the leg if you don't keep an eye on them.

I have thought about bands but haven't found the ones I would be comfortable with. Wing bands require you to catch the bird to figure which one it is. Metal leg bands come off too just like wing bands. I bought the aluminum and the pliers to set them with and they still come off, granted the vet put them on as I was holding and controling the bird as she was doing it. Perhaps with a little more practice they would stay on better, but still the numbering system is limited.

I like having the colored plastic rings, no, they are not perfect and will break and fall off too, but at least I can tell from a distance which bird and age it is. For example the right leg is the year color we use in beekeeping for marking our queens. There are five colors that repeat every five years, White, Yellow, Red, Green, and Blue.

The Left leg is bird info like a black and white ring is BSWE, purple is Purple, black and purple is PBS, brown is Cameo, blue is IB, etc. That works very well for yearlings and two-year-old birds that haven't colored in yet or birds with hidden splits.

I have seen the bands offered at Smith Poultry Supplies, but I am interested where @Arbor and @Augeredin get theirs and what type the like best.

 

[zazouse]

We band anywhere from hatch to two weeks. We use jiffy bands and we order two identical sets. One goes in each wing. Some people order one set and put consecutive numbers in each wing. Either way works. You just need to keep good records.

For the birds that have lost tags, you can retag them or use zip ties in the wing or one the leg. They are prone to come out in the first month. After that not so much in my experience.

Thank you how do you zip tie a wing?/ never heard of that before.

I think i will zip the babies from the imported stocks least i will know who is who id they loose both tags but i think moast of the greens are well past a month so hopefully they will stay put
, wished i could tattoo their lip but they don't have one LOL

 

[KsKingBee]

Ah Jeez, first I lose the post then I repost on the wrong thread!

Anyone know how to move a post?

 

[Pfauenfreund]

Thank you.
1) at what age do you band pea chicks?

2) How can i get leg bands and wing bands with the same number or do they just have to have 2
different numbers?

I purchased some pea chicks while i was in Florida and they had two wing bands just in case they lost one and one had already lost one before i picked it out, now two more have lost their bands and i am afraid the greens will loose theirs and i will not know which is from imports and which is from American greens...
their bands are very little photo posted for reference , anyhow the other band just pulled out of the web where they are attached.

I recommend you special rings for chicks as shown on this side.
http://www.heka-brutgeraete.de/en/Poultry-Supply/Rings-Tags/20900.html
These rings are made of a plastic foil and growing then with the leg. I use for peafowl 8mm diameter and put it on when the chicks are 3 days old. The rings are growing then and with an age of approx. 5 month the will drop off by themselves, but then they have already the final closed numbered rings on. The final rings I put on with approx. age of 2.5 to 3 months.

These mentioned special rings for chicks you will get in many different colour and if you will used different colours for left and right legs you are able to make identically many different chicks.
I saw that you can buy these rings on Ebay too.

Based on this picture I will explain you my marking system.


After eclosion I mark the chicks for approx. 4 days with coloured cable tie that I know from which hen the chick is.

After four days all chicks are marked individually with coloured special chick rings. These rings are growing together with the leg and will drop off after 6 to 8 months by themselves.
The ring on right leg (tight green ring) is giving the hen.
The ring on the left leg (tight black ring) is for each chick of the same hen different. With this system each chick is identical marked for DNA sexing until I can put on the closed numbered ring bands.

The closed purple ring band on the right leg is the breeder ring with my personal breeder code, the year and a unique number for each bird. This ring has every year a different colour so it is easier to see the age without reading the ring code.
The closed yellow leg bend on the left leg is the stud-book ring with a unique numbering. The code of both rings together are only knowing the breeder and the stud-book keeper to avoid that somebody can cheat you. So everybody who is interested can contact the stud-book keeper to ask if everything is ok with the bird.

The white spiral ring is just for me, he is giving the hen to see direct the different blood lines when the small chick ring is dropped off.
I hope my explanation was understandable.