Blacks carrying lavender gene

[John]

I know some were kind of fearful that some strains of blacks could carry the lavender gene.  From my last two hatches I\'ve found that mine do, because I got a few lavender chicks from them.  Although I toe punched the chicks last year, I guess some didn\'t get punched well enough.  Anyway I know that one hen and the cock carry lavender and if you got black chicks from me this year chances are about 1/4 of them carry the lavender gene.  
I don\'t see it as a problem, but I know some may.

[Jean]

Along the same issues...

I have had quiet a few toe punches heal up and grow back in.  I make sure that I remove any hanging \"tags\".  Is there any way to make sure the toe punches do not heal over?

I was able to tell a couple of my \"bantam black pullets\" were actually crossed to the chocolates by their size at maturity.  Then the greener eggs came.....  I toe punched every one of them at hatching.

[John]

I remove any hanging \"tags\"

So do I, but just started doing it maybe sometime last year.  I also re-punch them at six days of age when they are moved to a different brooder.  More and more I just use the toe puncher to cut a slit in the web, especially on all the bantams.

[Beth C]

Jean: Same thing happened here, and I remove the tags as well. This has been fun, since I used a buff cock over NH Reds to get some replacement layers. The results look a lot like buff chicks until they get to a certain age. Fortunately I only hatched 2 batches of them, and the first ones are old enough to be obvious, but the last batch not so much. AND 2 of the wing bands came off. My Irish luck again... occasionally have to pull out my drivers license and make sure my name ISN\'T Murphy... :stare:

[HarryS]

Well the toe puncher does not always function the way you expect.  I have found the utility knife is more accurate.

[dixieland]

Would using a toe punch, removing the tag and then using a quick healing styptic powder or wonder dust help to maintain the punches?

I am going to be hatching a bunch in the next month ( Lord willing) and was hoping to start employing this method for marking chicks...

I have fallen back into an old habit from puppy raising days of painting toes and toe nails with different colors to mark the different picks from each hatch.. That is not very practical for Poultry!

[Beth C]

I have fallen back into an old habit from puppy raising days of painting toes and toe nails with different colors to mark the different picks from each hatch.. That is not very practical for Poultry!

Lol, I do that, too - and I\'m hearing Jeff Foxworthy in my head as I\'m doing it: if you\'ve ever put nail polish on a chicken... :p

[dak]

Would using a toe punch, removing the tag and then using a quick healing styptic powder or wonder dust help to maintain the punches?

I am going to be hatching a bunch in the next month ( Lord willing) and was hoping to start employing this method for marking chicks...

I have fallen back into an old habit from puppy raising days of painting toes and toe nails with different colors to mark the different picks from each hatch.. That is not very practical for Poultry!

Haha!  I used blobs of nail polish on heads a couple years ago, then had to leave town for a family emergency for several weeks.  Needless to say feathers emerged and one Black Cochin looks like another at that age.

I toe punch now and go back at day 4 or 5 and used a small pair of hemostats to open the hole up and stretch it a bit.  This has worked for me so far.

[greeneggsandham]

Would using a toe punch, removing the tag and then using a quick healing styptic powder or wonder dust help to maintain the punches?

I am going to be hatching a bunch in the next month ( Lord willing) and was hoping to start employing this method for marking chicks...

I have fallen back into an old habit from puppy raising days of painting toes and toe nails with different colors to mark the different picks from each hatch.. That is not very practical for Poultry!

I thought I was the only one with toe nail colored chicks!   :p

I do that til they are old enough for the colored zip ties.  It\'s a pain painting toes every few days.

[jerryse]

I now use a ear notcher for livestock.Much better results.I was always losing that little toe punch anyway.You can remove the whole web or as little as you like.

[jeeperspeepers-r4us]

I got the colored rubber bands that Sharon recomended and I love them. Easy to put on and take off. The small size is good for day olds for a couple weeks then I swithched to the next size. Non came off by themself. Down side, If left on to long they could cut off circulation.
Gets the chicks old enough for bands or quick ties.

[OldChurchEggery]

Colored rubber bands- now that\'s a good idea. I\'ll have to try that along with toe-punching on my batch that is due to hatch this weekend. I have some LF silvers from Russ that came as shipped eggs. They must have benefited from gentle handling through the Post Office because so far they\'ve all showed development. Of course, I must resist the temptation to count them before they hatch :-)

[Sharon Yorks]

Here is a link to where to find the rubber bands on Ebay. That is the only place I was able to find them. I start the new born chicks with the size 4, then change sizes every 10 days. You could probably push that to 2 weeks, but I would keep an eye on it to make sure it doesn\'t get too tight. The bands are very good about not coming off, but I did have one go flying off of a 2 day old chick a few days ago. I didn\'t see what the chick was doing (probably scratching its face or something) but it did come off. I\'ve only had 2 ever come off and both times it was soon after I first put them on newborns when they are the most loose. Each size comes in a pack of 100 and are $7. (free fast shipping) I really like them and they\'re reusable. I bought the 4, 5, & 6. That will get you through the first month which gives me plenty of time to decide which ones I want to keep or sell.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/100-LEG-BANDS-CHICK-POULTRY-BIRD-QUAIL-EGG-SMALL-SIZE-4-/220978088346?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item337352099a

[Beth C]

National Band also sells coil bands in sizes 2-5 in 8 colors. They are exactly like bandettes only w/o numbers. http://www.nationalband.com/leg.htm#992

But they are twice the price of the rubber bands, and shipping is anything but fast.

Personally, I\'ve become very frustrated with leg bands either coming off or needing changed every few weeks and have gone to wing bands. So far so good - we\'ll see if I still like them this time next year...

[Birdcrazy]

On the bands Sharon shows in this post, I have been using them for 3 years. They are really easy to put on and take off. Every once and a while I shoot one across the room when putting them on.  I use size 3 on day old bantam and 4 on LF. The only problem I encountered the first year I used them was when I put the chicks in outside runs and it was time to change band size, the UV rays had changed the color of the bands. I was trying to decide was that a blue or green and also was that a purple or pink? After using them a while, I could tell the blue turns a turquoise green and the purple turns almost a flesh color.
One other note as the size of the bands get larger and the birds get larger and more active the larger bands seem to be not as durable as the smaller size.  I would find a few that had slipped their bands. So I usually go to a spiral band which is more durable and change to number bands at adolescent age. By that time I have culled most, so you are not using near as many bands as what you started with.