Lilac HIll Farm raises Pilgrim geese, Dominique chickens and Saxony ducks. At this point, we have three well established breeding lines of Pilgrims -11 geese, 3 ganders and 4 extra ganders; a beginner flock of Dominiques - 6 roosters and 12 hens; and a new flock of Saxony ducks - 2 drakes and 4 hens.

Almost all of our birds are hatched in an incubator so I can toe punch and zip tie the hatchlings easily.

Zip ties are affordable, available in many colors and with their high visibility, I can evaluate birds as I move through daily chores. As young birds grow, they need new bands regularly, so I handle potential breeding stock often when I replace zip ties. Every time I handle a bird, I evaluate for size and conformation.

By the time a bird reaches adulthood, they will have at least two zip ties on each leg. I zip tie both legs in case one tie is lost.

One zip tie signals the year of hatch: YELLOW = 2020; WHITE = 2021; PINK=2022
BLUE, RED, ORANGE or GREEN zip ties indicate breeding group. Each of these breeding groups also has a coordinating toe punch.
I add a PURPLE zip tie at any time in the year to note a bird that has exemplary vigor, size, conformation or behavior. Purple banded birds get extra attention when I am choosing breeding stock.
Since my foundation Pilgrims were acquired over the course of a few years they have only breeding group zip ties.
Because we raise multiple hatches of goslings, goslings have their breeding group tie and a unique colored tie to indicate which hatch they belong so I don’t unfairly compare a first hatched gosling to one hatched two months later. Eventually geese that join the breeding flock wear only their hatch year and group tags.
Chicks, ducklings and goslings don’t get banded with their “year” band until they near adulthood since they are distinguishable from the adults in the flocks.

Because I breed with a goal of improving the utility of these heritage birds, observing and comparing the breeding groups as part of their whole flock is easier out in the field when I can see the colored zip ties.