Clipping the Wings

[Shogun99]

Hello I have about 25 chicks and they're about 3 weeks old and they've begun to take "flight". I'm not too worried about that now, but when do I need to start clipping their wings? The pen that they will eventually be in will have about a 4 foot fence around it. Will that be sufficient or should I build higher AND clip their wings?

Suggestions? Comments?

 

[Mojo Chick'n]

Depends on what type of chicken it is - I have some old english game bantams that have clipped wings (they came to me that way) and they still fly up to the perch in the coop (which is easily 5 foot above their heads).

With heavier breeds it might be easier to keep them down to more ground level.

Peace -
Meriah

 

[cmom]

I have my free range area fenced in with a 4' fence. Once in a great while one will fly out but rarely. I feed them inside their range area and also give them their treats in their range area. Also they have a pretty good size dust bathing area in their area too. I have a ladder for them in their covered run, which their free range area is attached to. I had some milk crates in their area. The birds were getting on top and then flying over the fence. I took the milk crates out. I have RIR's which are fairly heavy birds.

 

[Shogun99]

Mine are heavies too, but I may have one or two bantams...don't know about the goldies. What I was worried about is them flying the coop (literally).

Do I need to clip thier wings though and if so, when do I do that? When I transfer them from the brooder box to the coop living area?

 

[GopherBoyFarms]

if they wanna fly over they will and sometimes clipping wings doesnt even help. We had a few that liked to fly into the neighbors yard and that was a 6+ foot fence and they had one wing clipped. But none of our bigger girls have ever flown over.

 

[cmom]

Quote:
How old are they?

 

[cmom]

I moved mine out of the brooder and into their coop. I put the brooder cage into the coop when they were a month old. Here is a picture.

 

[jmeeter88]

Quote:
What do you have under your roost?

 

[cmom]

Quote:
What do you have under your roost?

Wire

 

[jmeeter88]

Quote:
What do you have under your roost?

Wire

And underneath that?