Is wing clipping neccessary?

[Little Chicky]

My chickens (All large breeds, Orpington, Australorp ect.) will be spending most of the day in their covered run, but they'll be getting a couple of hours of supervised free-ranging each day. I've heard that leaving their wings untrimmed will allow them to escape from predators better, but also that they'll jump fences and roost in trees (we have LOTS of trees.) Will I need to clip their wings? Can you show a bird with clipped wings?

 

[gritsar]

I have LF brahma. I don't clip their wings. They free range all day and I want to leave them with that advantage, however small it may be.
My hens (6 to 8 lbs.) can fly over a 4 foot fence if they really really want something on the other side. My rooster @ 13 lbs. can't.

 

[realmofthewoodsranch]

No you can't show a bird with clipped wings. I have some really light birds that have no problem jumping over a four foot wall, and some LF Brahmas that couldn't jump four feet if they tried, LOL! It's all dependent on what you want. I don't see a point in the bigger birds, but with the light bantams and the light egg layers it might be necessary to keep them out of the trees...? I like them in the trees!

 

[Jccatcher]

If you live in the city you might want to consider it but, if you live in the country you may not want to because they get away from predators better.

 

[obchix]

Hello! I clipped my birds wings when they were younger and lighter so that they would stay in our yard. Now they are much heavier and can barely make it over 4 foot netting... so not a worry about them getting over the six foot fence to the neighbors. There is a diagram on this site for clipping the wings. It was super easy.

 

[Riven]

I fence my chickens to keep predators out and chickens in. If they can fly over it it's defeating the point!

Just my opinion. I clip my ducks wings so they can't fly, we had calls two years ago that we didn't clip in time... and they all flew away... Very sad. One hen came back the next spring for a couple days with a couple "friends" then left and we've never seen them since.


But this did bring up a good point for me, my daughter is going to show some of our calls next year, so I'm going to have to find a way to keep them in without clipping them. Other than that I think she's showing bantam cochins which can't seem to make it over the fence.

 

[Steve_of_sandspoultry]

Our Buff Orps are to big to get very far off the ground.

Steve in NC

 

[fordmommy]

I clipped my chickens wings because some were escaping. I found out that they would just flap their wings and walk right up the fence. After that, I put a cover on the top of the run and said that I would never clip them again.

Plus, my BA would never get up far. Maybe 3' is her best. She's simply too big. Hence her name, "Big Bertha".

 

[cmom]

I have my birds in a fenced in yard also. I have not clipped their wings and they haven't flown over the fence.

 

[[email protected]]

I had a chicken start bleeding in the feathers when I clipped their wings and dont know what I did wrong. This is the first time this ever happened. Did I do something wrong? Is this normal?