Banding Finches

[Tman]

If you breed finches and want to sell them, do you have to band them? If you sold them to a pet shop would they band them for you or if you sold them privately? Also how much is it to get custom bands made I'd like prices from all around the world please

[cindy]

This from the Finch Information Center just to the left of the page...it is a very complete and helpful guide to leg banding.

http://www.finchinfo.com/breeding/leg_b ... eeping.php

Stores don't band for if you are selling the birds to them...usually as a seller you usually either band in closed or split colored or number bands.

Here in the states some of us use L&M Legbands
http://www.lmbirdlegbands.com/

NFSS also sells bands to their members.

Check in your area/country for organizations that sell numbered closed bands or split bands. Also some avian supply places sell bands as well as seed and health products for your birds. Contact an area club, they may be able to suggest a company to purchase bans from

[ac12]

I band all the birds that I breed, closed where possible, split where I can't use closed bands.
I band only for my own record keeping purposes, but it also benefits anyone that I sell the birds to.

I get mine from RedBird.

[Sally]

This is probably the biggest leg band company in the world, it is where all the National Finch & Softbill Society bands come from. They are in the UK, so I'd be willing to bet they provide most of the bands in Europe.

http://www.achughes.com

[finchmix22]

I close band all finches as much as possible. Timing is the key because if I band too early they slip off and if I band a little late they can be too tight. Most finches are close banded around day 8-10 after hatching. Split bands can be applied at any time and many use the colored splits to identify family lines for breeding and record keeping.

[Martie]

I also close-band my birds and use split colored bands to identify sexes in monomorphic species and so I can identify them in a flight without having to catch them up. I do it for my own records - and so buyers are assured of the birds' ages. These also help at bird marts where it's really tough sometimes to catch up "the one with the brown under its left eye".

[Smurf]

I was also looking into info about banding any birds i breed, as i'm new to finches i decided to wait until after my first breeding success as i don't plan on disturbing nest, i'll just use split bands for id for time being until i gain more experience.

Another site i found not mentioned above is avianid

http://www.avianid.co.uk/id-ring_prices.asp


Padraic

[Lacybug]

I'd like to use open bands because I'm also a begginer at raising finches, but I wish there were open *plastic* bands with the year or other numbers on them... Do people ever mark bands themselves, with a permenent pen, or is that a silly idea?

[Sally]

You could certainly mark plastic bands yourself. The problem would be in that the band is so small, it would be difficult to put much information on the band, unless you worked up your own code.

These two places sell split bands with identifying info on them.

www.redbirdproducts.com
www.lmbirdlegbands.com

[Lacybug]

Thanks Sally The only thing is those are split aluminum bands, and the info center doesn't recommend using them due to increased chance of injury, correct?

[Sally]

Yes, those are aluminum bands. Red Bird does carry numbered split plastic bands. For birds I purchase that do not have bands, I order split aluminum bands from A.C. Hughes. They have my initials and a number. I don't bother with the year, since these bands are only for birds I buy and much of the time I have no idea of the year of hatch anyway. I have them in 3 different sizes for various species of finch, and then I have a banding tool for each size, like small pliers that pinch the band closed on the leg. With these pliers, I can pinch the band completely shut so there is nothing to catch on. Can't remember why I ordered from Hughes and not in the U.S., but I think it was because the American companies only had one size, while Hughes offered various sizes, and I wanted them to fit better.