Question on when and how to clip Guinea Fowl flight feathers

[NinjaGamer2022]

I watched a video by Brimwood Farms and he recommends clipping there wings before they can fly so they get used to being more grounded. My question is how soon can you clip a Guinea Fowl's flight feathers and how much do you clip? Thx,

 

[NatJ]

You do not want to clip into the bloody part in a feather that is still growing.

For any particular feather, once it has quite growing and no longer has blood in the middle, you can clip it. Do not cut so short you cut the bird's wing, but any other length should be fine.

Young birds molt frequently. If you clip feathers when they are young, you will need to re-clip the feathers every time they molt.

Some people wait until the birds are adults, and do all the clipping at once, and are done until the bird molts next year. But you can clip feathers when they are young, and you can clip some feathers one day and others later when those feathers have finished gowing. It's up to you.

 

[R2elk]

Most people do not clip guinea wings as flight is their only real defense against predators.

 

[NinjaGamer2022]

Most people do not clip guinea wings as flight is their only real defense against predators.

Once they are free roaming we may stop clipping there wings. By a video I watched if you clip there wings when they are young they will fly less often when they mature because they got used to being grounded. We hope to prevent them for wanting to fly over the fencing. Thank you for the info.

 

[NinjaGamer2022]

You do not want to clip into the bloody part in a feather that is still growing.

For any particular feather, once it has quite growing and no longer has blood in the middle, you can clip it. Do not cut so short you cut the bird's wing, but any other length should be fine.

Young birds molt frequently. If you clip feathers when they are young, you will need to re-clip the feathers every time they molt.

Some people wait until the birds are adults, and do all the clipping at once, and are done until the bird molts next year. But you can clip feathers when they are young, and you can clip some feathers one day and others later when those feathers have finished gowing. It's up to you.

The bloody part is the stick-like part of the feather, correct?

 

[R2elk]

Once they are free roaming we may stop clipping there wings. By a video I watched if you clip there wings when they are young they will fly less often when they mature because they got used to being grounded. We hope to prevent them for wanting to fly over the fencing. Thank you for the info.

Don't believe everything you see on YouTube.

Mine start flying by the time they are 2 weeks old. That is what a cover on the brooder is for to keep them from flying out of the brooder.

As adults mine stay in their pen most of the year.. Admittedly it is a very large pen. But during breeding season (right now) they do fly out of the pen to escape bullying.

 

[NinjaGamer2022]

Don't believe everything you see on YouTube.

Mine start flying by the time they are 2 weeks old. That is what a cover on the brooder is for to keep them from flying out of the brooder.

As adults mine stay in their pen most of the year.. Admittedly it is a very large pen. But during breeding season (right now) they do fly out of the pen to escape bullying.

Would a covered run attached to a large coop (we will be using 1-2 sheds and add a covered run) be OK? We plan to move them to outdoor fencing once this B!rd F!u passes but that may be sometime.

 

[R2elk]

Would a covered run attached to a large coop (we will be using 1-2 sheds and add a covered run) be OK? We plan to move them to outdoor fencing once this B!rd F!u passes but that may be sometime.

A covered run will work fine.

 

[NatJ]

The bloody part is the stick-like part of the feather, correct?

When it is growing, yes. After it finished growing, there is no blood in any part of the feather.

 

[NinjaGamer2022]

When it is growing, yes. After it finished growing, there is no blood in any part of the feather.

So as long as I don't cut the stick-like part of the feathers when they're young they won't get hurt right? Thx,