marking toes

I have read on this and other forums about toe punching or marking????
What is this and how do you do it. I have also heard of useing beads on a band to preserve breeding info.
It is becoming very clear to me the importance of tracking your breeding families.
What do the rest of you do to permanently tag your birds?

Toe punching works great and if done properly is permanent.You can buy the tool from Cutler Supplies in the states and it is only about 4.00. It removes a round piece of skin between the toes like a paper hole punch and it is best to do a chick at day old or not much older. I have done day old and a few weeks old and so far I would guess that 5 or 6 days old would be perfect at least it would be easier for me to do.

I've never done it but toe punching sounds like a fool proof way of marking. Leg bands and tags can come off, as well as become too tight and injure the bird if you don't catch it in time. Not to mention all the time spent adjusting and rebanding…yep, I think I’ll be toe punching.

Check out this chart and all the different ways one can toe punch.

If doing freshly hatched or day olds, i have had the occasional one heal over, so i now recheck at a few days and redo if necessary. Not perhaps as nice as leg bands to tell, but i am thinking that once they are grown, then you can put on permanent bands if you wish. I found that small wing bands, although permanent are harder to position correctly and are still not easy to see once feathers are grown in.
That being said, it is definitely an advantage to have some kind of permanent markings for different lines/individuals and toe punching is definitely a nice option.