The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Poultry & Waterfowl => Topic started by: Chrisnut on January 09, 2014, 07:17:49 pm
-
Hi...
Does anyone have any advice on leg rings.... we have bought birds at different times and wish to be able to identify them easier, probably with the use of leg rings, what size is suitable for large fowl (chickens) as i see they vary and which are the best to get as i have seen some spiral ones some clip on ones etc
of course if anyone has any negative points regarding legrings i want to hear also
Thx
-
I personally use cable ties, different colours and trimmed-just snip them off and replace when/if necessary. So they are colour coded to tell me what parents they are from. I don't yet have so may that I can't tell them apart anyway though. The rumpless araucana have poultry club leg rings, 16mm I think but they are quite small for LF., 18mm for the cock.
cable ties are easier to use IME! when I first started, I got some wee metal ones of different colours and they were horrible sharp things that were impossible to get off one handed. Spirals were slightly easier and the click together ones are alright on those that have finished growing.
-
I use some I bought from ebay for my geese to tell the sexes apart more easily. They spiral around the leg to get them on as opposed to pushing it on over the foot, spiraling is easy - they are made of hard plastic, they don't seem to mind them on at all, they are a loose-ish fit. I think lord flynn's idea with the cable ties is good though. I'd keep them like a bangle though (wee bit loose) so it doesn't bother their skin.
-
I think lord flynn's idea with the cable ties is good though. I'd keep them like a bangle though (wee bit loose) so it doesn't bother their skin.
thanks, and yes-like an anklet :D never had any issues with them. you can get the multicoloured ones from amazon, they are used for IT stuff apparently.
-
I wing tag all my birds. The tags come in different colours and are also numbered. I use a different colour for each year.
-
We've had many birds catch their leg rings and they have been pulled off. We only fit ones that will 'unclip' so that there is less risk of injury. Both types are flat bands that we can write on. One has a press clip to fit it, the other is an overlapping arrangement. We don't use the spiral type because there is nowhere to write anything on. Size is a difficult judgement as it needs top be a bit loose for growth and to avoid damaging the scales, but not so loose that they catch their opposite foot on it. So the exact diameter can really only be established by measurement or 'trial and error'. 14 and 16mm seem to be the sizes most often used by us for hens.
Coloured tie wraps is a good idea, but I worry about them getting snagged on something. However the breed registered bands are not removable- we had to cut one off our cock as he had outgrown it. So perhaps rigid rings isn't so much of a problem and it's just ours that are clumsy -some free range so can get into trouble all over the place!
-
mine are pretty much free range, roost in trees etc and I've not had a problem-I am talking about the tiny ones though, once they get to a certain size its negligible to the size of the bird. I don't like the breed ones tbh and the ones they recommend are too small.
-
I got these from the States. You fit them when the birds are young and once they've grown, you can't tell that they are there. They can be useful in retrieving stolen birds.
(http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m180/kcooper2006/t1.jpg)
-
are they elasticated Bodger or don't they need t0 be? I like the idea although it might be easier to id them on colour with the leg rings etc if they are more visible.
-
No they're metal and are put on with a little applicator. I also toe punch chicks at day old to stop any mistakes in ID.
-
wow thx all plenty to take in !!!
-
what's toe punching?