I wasn’t ringing my chicks because I had had some horrible accidents where rings got stuck & crippled the birds. But I have gone back to it again, as I’m getting too many birds to remember & also maybe I will start showing again.

 

The problem is reading the ring numbers…even with my glasses it’s getting hard. First off I just rang the birds & then recorded them as I took them from the breeding cabinets to the aviary, but the problem is that the rings are then caked with cement like droppings. So then I thought I better ring them & record the number straight away, while the rings are nice & clean, before returning the chick to the nests. The only problem is that some rings come off again. I think some hens must remove them as I tried some rings & they didn’t seem easy to come off again, but the next day they were gone. Then I realised that when the bird’s feather up & I need to record their mutation on my records, again I’m stuck with the cement type droppings. I could carefully soak their legs in water I guess but that’s very time consuming. After the birds are flying, the rings soon clean of their own accord, the only problem that means catching them at a later time to record them. Their leg rings haven’t cleaned enough mostly before I catch them to let them go in the aviaries. Maybe the easiest would be to catch them later & record the mutations…have any of you guys got any better ideas thanks.

I'd love to say I have a solution, Norm. But I seem to have the same problems you are I try to record them at 3-4 weeks of age when the legrings wont come off...sooner if I can.

Guess what... That's what happenes . I ring the chicks at 7 - 8 days old. Most of the time I have trouble geting the ring on... Think I complain :hap:. I then have a nest box card that I write the number on.