Wing bands

[Dennis Heltzel]

Does anyone use wing bands? I have been using leg bands some, but they sometimes get lost and have to be replaced with larger bands as the chicks grow. I haven't seen wing bands in use, but they seem like they might be the best solution for a breeding program.

[Russ Blair]

I know Beth uses them I believe, I personally do not. I toe punch and use leg bands just for quick visual ways of identification.

[Rebecca G Howie]

Like Russ, I toe punch (actually a slit since I have bantams) and use colored bands for quick ID. I did buy wing bands last spring but never got the nerve to put them on the chicks. This year I WILL use them to track individual birds in addition to the punching and colored bands.

[Beth Curran]

After experimenting with many forms of identification, including but not limited to: tattoos, toe punches, zip ties and rubber bands, Sharpies, fingernail polish (don't ask), and every leg band on the market, I started using zip wing bands in 2012 and, as a means of permanently identifying a bird from hatch to death, nothing I've found even comes close. I put them on right out of the incubator and, if correctly applied, they almost never come off - I can count the ones I've lost on the fingers of one hand.

There are some drawbacks, visibility being the main one. They are hard to read on a fully feathered bird, so on birds that I retain as breeders I add aluminum butt-end leg bands once the bird is finished growing (preferably with the last 2 digits from the wing band #) for quick ID. But as long as you leave the wing bands on and only use leg bands as a secondary form of ID, bandettes are the easiest to read on a moving target, if you don't mind replacing them often.

Some other drawbacks with the wing bands:

You have to be pretty precise with placement, not fun with day old bantams. The band goes through the wing web, between the bone and the tendon. If you are too close to the edge and miss the tendon the band will pull through that thin piece of skin and come off, but if the bone ends up inside the band you'll have to cut the band off and start over. And, of course, you have to be careful not to hit the bone or tendon when you poke the band through. (Not as complicated as it sounds, National Band has instructions and a video tutorial: https://nationalband.com/products/zip-890/ )

You also have to have the tabs aligned exactly when you crimp it or the band won't seal, which is kind of a pain since the soft aluminum bends when you push it through the skin and you have to bend it back.

For the same reason, it's difficult to apply these bands to older chicks. By the time they leave the brooder the skin is tough enough it's hard to get the band through, it just bends.

Hope this helps! I think you'll be happy with them.

[Dennis Heltzel]

I watched the video, it demonstrated using the bands with tabs you bend over, not the ones with an applicator. It's not clear which of the styles is better for our purposes (small numbers of high value chicks).
Have you ever had a chick get injured from the sharp ends of the bands?
They also seem to come in 3 sizes, from 5/8 inch to 1 inch. Are the smaller ones better for small breeds? Are they ever too small for a chick?

Sorry for all the questions. I had a fairly disastrous year with chick mortality and many of the chicks that did survive I am not certain of the parentage anymore. I'm hoping to learn from 2017 mistakes to make a better 2018.

[Beth Curran]

Dennis,

My bad, thought it was a video for the Zip bands that I use - they do have an applicator. I've never had an injury from the pointed end, and never had a band snag on anything. I have had a couple that I've had to remove because of an error on my part applying it, where I positioned it incorrectly.

I'm not sure what size I have, I know they aren't the smallest ones, and I use them on both bantam and LF. The bantam chicks look a little funny the first few days but I've seen no adverse affects.

[Dennis Heltzel]

Thanks for the info, I will try to buy the ones that you have, and an applicator. I think this will help so much. Bantam chicks are such little waifs to start with, I can't imagine how they get around with a piece of metal hanging from their wings. My main concern is the LF chicks, so the bantams might go without bands until I get more experienced.

[Beth Curran]

I checked and mine are size 3. I could stand for them to be a little bigger.

Sometimes with the bantams I wait until they're a week old, just don't wait too long or the skin is too thick and the band will bend instead of going through.

[Suki]

A good followup to our conversation on this topic as both us remarked the leg band had damaged cocks permanently.  I have thought of going to wing bands, but the major setback is in Pennsy you must also get a permanent numbered  leg band when you AI Test.  So I guess I will have one bedecked  and blinged bird.