[Mike McDonald]

What can you tell this newby about pigeon band numbers? If I order bands, do they come with unique, sequential numbers...numbers no one else has? Is there a numbering code for breeds? Can bands be applied to older birds or can they only put on chicks?

Mike

 

[bcr1]

Mike, yes they are sold in sequential numbers and nobody else can get bands with the same numbers. They don't have breed info on them but you can get special bands made, I saw a thread on here about them but I don't recall where. I'm sure somebody else can tell you where to get special made ones. For older birds you will have to use snap on bands and you should be able to get special made ones of them too. The bands you get are traceable to whoever buys the band.

 

[Lovebirds]

Mike, yes they are sold in sequential numbers and nobody else can get bands with the same numbers. They don't have breed info on them but you can get special bands made, I saw a thread on here about them but I don't recall where. I'm sure somebody else can tell you where to get special made ones. For older birds you will have to use snap on bands and you should be able to get special made ones of them too. The bands you get are traceable to whoever buys the band.

Well, that's not exactly correct............
Our club, as well as others, order bands with numbers to coincide with the year. For instance, this year (2009) our bands are in the 9000 series. A lot of clubs do this. So, technically, there are lots of bands out there with 9000, 9001, 9002, etc........the difference in the bands are the letters. Our club had DRP. Another club has TRC.........so there can be a DRP 9000 and a TRC 9000.
You can get special bands made at most of the pigeon supply companies.
http://www.globalpigeon.com/gps.php?action=showprod&id=46

 

[MaryOfExeter]

Yep. No one will have the EXACT band sequence as you. As in, there will not be two "IF 09 TRC 123" bands, just one.

As far as different breeds having certain bands, yes and no. They go by sizes, based on how big that breed is. So if you want bands for breeds other than homers (IF and AU), then you need to get NPA bands (National Pigeon Association). On the band after 'NPA' will be a size number, such as 8, 7, 10, etc. On their site they have lists of what breeds fit under which band size. So for rollers, you would need size 7, for homers size 8, and for frills and most other small feather-legged birds, size 10. For an example of what an NPA band would read, here's one of mine:
"NPA 10 08 FR 510"
08 being the year, 10 the size, FR the 'club', and 510 the serial number.

If you want seamless bands, which are required to show and race (and they're also the only traceable bands), then you'll have to put them on the squabs when they're 5-8 days old. For older birds, you can put snap-on or spiral bands, which are easily removeable. You can order the spirals in different colors and the snap-ons with numbers/colors of your choice as well.
They also make custom stickers that can be put on snap on bands. So if you want your older non-banded birds to have address bands in case they get lost, then those stickers will do the trick.