Official BYC Poll: Do You Clip Your Chickens' Wings?

[OmnipotentOrpington]

Our chickens continue to amaze us with their power of flight. Our EE flew 7 feet UP to our balcony, and our Orp flew over the run and into the street (we had let them out.) So, we clipped their wings. However, we had some instances with predators, and now they only free-range under our watch, so the clipping isn't necessary anymore.

 

[alwaystj9]

It absolutely depends on the bird. I was surprised how often a wing clip that prevents escape builds a habit of not escaping the fence and leads to only having to clip one time. I have also learned how some breeds are really aerodynamic.
One thing I have never seen addressed is how to stop the ones that have amazing jumping abilities...I have a roo that can hop straight up 6 feet, clipped or not.
(I am not ready to clip one leg...)

 

[DaisyBuff]

I would never ever clip my chickens wings.

Me to. I agree.

 

[Vickischics]

Wing clipping is the most common method of controlling the flight of backyard chickens. For example, some may fly over your fence or out of their uncovered run, exposing them to all sorts of dangers. Clipping the wings just means cutting a little bit off the first few feathers on the wing, making it harder for them to fly. Some like to just clip one wing so that they fly sideways as this imbalances the bird, making it difficult for her/him to fly.

Do you clip your chickens' wings? Place your vote above & feel free to elaborate in the comments section.

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Further reading:
How To Clip Trim The Wings Of Your Chicken To Prevent Flight

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I use to clip one wing to help with preventing my girls from flying over the fence. But, their persistent attitudes allowed them to become stronger and compensate for the wind loss. The tighter I trimmed out the flight feathers the more practice they seemed to ensure.
Therefore, I stopped.
When they ensured their free ranging spirits, I wanted them to have the ability to fly or escape from that potential preditor.
Crazy as it sounds, they no longer fly the Coop!!! They just dust bathe, flap around and lift off the ground enough to hover to where they want to go.

 

[father0fnine]

“Depends” is the best answer for our farm. If I have trouble with the bird not staying behind the fences, I’ll clip both wings to keep them out of the road, neighbors, etc. otherwise I don’t bother. I find I have to clip my Muscovies more than the chickens or other ducks.

 

[Chicken_girl17]

So for us we very rarely will clip their wings usually the only reason we will will be if the bird has tried to escape and has once or multiple times succeeded we will usually clip their wings to prevent that from happening again we also have one coop which is with our other animals such as goats that’s fences are only about 4-5 feet tall and they are usually cut so they don’t skip that especially since that is our full-size pen since we usually do bantams but usually when it comes to our chickens we do not clip their wings being that there’s usually no reason to being that they usually don’t try to escape from where they are we have housed other peoples chickens who have previously clip their wings and usually we try our best to let them grow back their feathers properly unless they are clipped for some reason

 

[Oncoming Storm]

I have a flock separate from the main flock and one of the birds in the separate flock was flying out of the coop so I had to clip her wing.....it didn’t help though.

 

[mml373]

Nope. I leave them be so they have a better chance of escaping predators (most likely, dogs, in my case).

 

[Lucyolive]

I've been thinking about it. The Leghorns are just crazy flying birds! And they're small enough to squeeze through the field fencing around the property. I'm in a dilemma about wing clipping. If I clip them they may not escape a predator. But if they are clipped they may stay within my fence (reinforced).

 

[VinDeb]

Yes, if we don't they will get into the garden and eat every plant and seed. They are out of the coop all day in their yard and locked up safe at night. Aren't most predators night creatures?