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As I've said, I'm learning, so please forgive the "newbness" of my questions....
Do you clip wings if you have a full enclosure?
Anne.
I never have clipped wings, but do have bird netting and shade cloth across the top of my run. We have hawks here.
Hi, Anne. I do not clip my girls' wings, either. Our coop/run is completely enclosed, too. It wasn't that way at first, it was open on top. The day we brought home our chickens, one flew to the top. She looked around and went back in, but we decided to play it safe and enclose the top. Good thing, too, because we added the shade cloth on top as well. I didn't let them free range for about a week. After that time they seemed pretty comfortable roosting in their coop and I spent the week "training" them to come to me. I would say "here chick,chick" and give them a treat. I was amazed at how quickly they learned that I was a source of treats. Now, if I say that, they can be all the way across the yard and they come running as fast as their little chicken legs will go. I wanted to train them that way in case they did fly out of the yard. It would be easier to get them back if they were trained to come to me. Fortunately, they have never "flown the coop". It seems that once they are used to a place, they don't wander. They go back in their coop at sunset by themselves, too. All I have to do is lock 'em in! Easy, easy. (if I could just get the kids to put themselves to bed, too...)
If I didn't hate having chicks on the back patio ... I would add another brooder box out there - but two coops, a run, a dog crate for my broody and one brooder to clean / fresh water / feed every day is enough!
