The German Roller, Roller Canary,Edelroller and Gesangskanarien Site

Our "DA" Initial

The Dominion Roller Canary Association uses the DA initial on all of their legbands. By way of design and by way of method; all DA leg bands are tamper proof. As such, they guarantee that your Roller Canary is of genuine pedigree. Furthermore, the Dominion Roller Canary Association does not issue their legbands to anyone that is not a member of an affiliated club in the DRCA. All of our club members order their legbands through their club secretary. All club secretaries in the DRCA will exercise caution when distributing rings to new or unknown breeders. This is done to ensure that DA legbands will only be used on Rollers that were bred from genuine Roller Canary stock.

Legband Materials

In recent years, the aluminum DA legband has become slightly thicker due to the surface coating that has been added. Also, it is less shiny and slightly heavier than the bare aluminum rings we used in the past. The reason for this has to do with availability of stock.
We order all of our leg bands from Tony Watley, of Red Bird Products. In recent years, Tony has had much difficulty trying to acquire the same type of aluminum tubing that we once used for rings. Its current size and shape resembles the plastic ring used by the DKB of Germany.

The Manufacturing Process

DA inscriptions are pressed into aluminum tubing during a machine process that imprints each inscription before cutting the tube. Each inscription should form a recess deep enough to allow carbon or paint to become safely embedded inside. This recess helps to preserve the visibility of the inscription as well as protect the paint from scratching. Once the tubing has been imprinted, the machine slices each ring from the tubing to exact size.

Know your Inscription

The letters and numerals in the above image represent the maximum number of inscriptions that can be placed on one of our official legbands.

The first two initials: "DA"

These first two initials represent "Dominion Association".
This is the shortest form of our full name; "The Dominion Roller Canary Association".
In case you are wondering why we do not use the full "DRCA" acronym; it has to do with not being able to fit that many initials on such a small 3 millimeter ring.

Breeder Bands

The breeder number is optional feature that will identify the person that bred the bird. In order to obtain a breeder number, one must request this from either the club ring secretary or from one of the DRCA executive. The breeder number has only two numerals which are located between the initials "DA" and the date. Since these numbers must not match those that are already assigned, great care must be made in their selection.
If you refer to the above image, you will see Breeder number 35 on this band.
Each of our club secretaries are responsible for maintaining a list of breeder numbers for their own members. This list is usually updated when new legbands are ordered in August of each year. Once the rings have been manufactured and returned to the DRCA, they are distributed to each member in January of the following year.

Wild Rings

Not all DA bands are inscribed with breeder numbers.
Those that have the breeder number missing are commonly referred to as "wild rings".
Wild rings can be used by those that have a breeder number as well as those that do not have one.
These rings are used primarily as a means to make up for any shortfall that a breeder has, after running out of his regular supply of breeder bands. This often happens in a busy season of breeding. These bands are also used by new members that have not yet been able to order breeder bands.
Unlike breeder bands, any number of these can be ordered "on demand" at any time of the year.
Wild rings can easily be identified by the inscription that follows after "DA"
If the next inscription after DA is positioned at a 90 degree angle, as it is in the numeral "08" of this next example;

DA

-then you are looking at a "wild ring.

*All wild rings have only the year inscribed immediately following the initials "DA".

The Year

The year that the bird was born is always represented by the two smallest sized numerals on the legband. These are always placed sideways to all the other inscriptions. In the above example, the numeral "08" represents the year of 2008. It does not represent "80" as in the year 1980.

Why can't it also stand for 1980?
OK, good question, so let's just look at that number again before reading the answer below:

1) Numerals of the year are always rotated (clockwise) 90 degrees to the right.
2) The numeral at the top is always the first numeral of each year. In this case it's a zero.
3) There are always only two numbers for the year. Since zero is the first number, then the other number can only be it's second one. Only if the top numeral was an 8, could it represent a year from the eighties.

* Please Note: This numberal sequence for the year will repeat itself every 100 years.

Identity Requests

If you have all the band numbers but do not know the name of the breeder that corresponds to it; you can still obtain their identity through either their club secretary or any executive member in the DRCA. You can also contact the President of the DRCA directly.

Banding Procedure

The only way to apply a closed ring is by slipping them onto the leg. This is done by sliding the ring over the toes at an early age when the feet are still small. Since the bands are only 3.0 mm in size, they are too small to place on feet that continued their growth past one week.

Protection of Pedigree

All DA legbands are "closed" rings. Because closed rings have no seam cut into them, they cannot be opened up later in order to remove them. Once banded, the ring cannot be removed unless it is cut off. Cutting a ring destroys the closed band, so it cannot be reused. By way of design, the DA closed band will truly protect the pedigree of your German Roller for life.

Costs

Ring prices in the DRCA vary between 55 cents apiece and 75 cents apiece. The price variation depends on which club you are in and whether or not any special levy is imposed on the basic cost of the ring. Each club that imposes a levy on rings, does so in order to help them fund events. Club membership dues will vary in price as well. For more information on our DA clubs, and how you can join, please contact any of the executive members listed on the Canadian Roller Club Page.

Credits:

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Many thanks to Joe Pietrobon (DA breeder number 35) of the Vancouver Roller Canary Society for helping to make this article possible by donating all the numbers used in the above legband example.

-Kent Donnelly