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« on: November 26, 2012, 11:17:21 PM »
When my chicks reach adulthood and I have culled to keepers for my breeding pens, I leave a colored spiral band on the corresponding leg to designate what breeding pen they came from. Then on the other leg I put a numbered colored band. I make this a single color for the year (for all my breeds of birds). Example White designates 2012, Blue 2011, Red 2010 etc. That way I can look in my breeding pens and see if some of my older breeders may need to be considered for replacement. I rarely keep breeders past 4 years of age. Sorry to say there is no method of madness to the selection of the colored spiral band to designate which breeding pen the bird comes from-I keep a small notebook to notate this along with remarks of chicks I have culled from that pen and the reason why I culled them. This helps me to determine if I may need to break up a breeding pen for better results the next year. This works great unless the bird slips a band, but at least with my notebook I can determine the breeding pen again from the number band and put back on the colored spiral band. If they lose the number band, I still know the breeding pen from the spiral band. Looking at the other hens/pullets in the breeding pen and my notebook I can usually determine what the number and color of the missing numbered band. I usually only have one cock or cockerel in a breeding pen so there is no question to band again from my notebook. If I have a bird that is one of my favorites or done well at a show it is recorded in my notebook, but it naturally tends for my to know my favorites and look for them in the breeding pens without having to look them up in my notebook. Banding is not cheap!!!!!! I usually keep two to three hundred dollars worth on hand for a breeding season. Now with the price of feed, that doesn't seem as bad, and they are reusable.
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