Clipping wings isn't working!

[sbreagy97]

Friends,
I pretty new to the whole chicken stuff. Recently, I ordered a 4 foot electric fence from Premiere 1 Supplies to fence in my chickens, but they kept flying out easily. So, I clipped their wings, and now, about 15-20 of them stay in the fence without even trying to get out. All the others can still fly out! It's really annoying because there's chicken poop all over the front porch and my dog goes nuts when he sees the chickens so we have to keep him chained up and I feel really bad for him

. Any tips on how we can stop this would be greatly appreciated. Thanks so much!

 

[Dar]

netting over the top of the run

i got mine pretty cheap off of e-bay ... its marine netting and has stood up to the UV great and the weight of winter snow...

 

[humpbacks1962]

Clipping their wings didn't stop mine either. I used bird netting for the top, bought the package for about $8, in Home Depot.

 

[sbreagy97]

So just put it over the top of the fence?

 

[nurse_turtle]

Bird netting. You use it as a complete covering over your fenced area, kinda like a ceiling. If you have a super large fenced area, then your solutions are limited.

 

[lynnR]

I've heard before that it works better if you clip the left wing. All hens only have their left ovary so they are heavier on that side.

 

[sbreagy97]

Yeah, my fence is pretty big. I'm trying to keep my 50-60 hens in there. So would bird netting still work?

 

[Dar]

I bought 2 nets and i tented it....

so i have my run that is about 20 feet long and 16 feet wide....

I ran a cable from the top of the coop and weaved it in and out of the both sides of the netting... "sewing it together"

I have a pole at the other end

i then stapled the netting to the top of the sides of the run making it like a tent... its been there for about 3 years now.. other then a little stretching its in great shape

 

[nurse_turtle]

If you can get the netting to cover the entire run area. Hmmmm... I'm not sure that's feasible for you with only a 4 ft fence. Let the chickens that are fence jumping to grow one wing completely out and only keep one wing clipped. With only 1 wing clipped, they become very off balanced when they try to fly. Are you clipping only the primary feathers? I don't mean to insult you but you do know how to clip wings properly? I received a bird once with all his secondary feathers clipped but with a full set of primaries. Needless to say, he could fly all over the place.

 

[Ariel301]

Quote:
Absolutely not true. Birds have two ovaries. The right one exists, it just doesn't work. And even if there was only one ovary, a chicken's ovary is a very small thing. They would not be off-balance because of the ovary.

Have you clipped the wings as short as you possibly can clip them? I've had parrots learn to fly with clipped wings, and clipping them shorter can help for a while. (The ones that are inclined to learn, will still build up enough muscle to fly anyway, I've seen small parrots take pretty good flights with nothing left of the flight feathers but tiny stubs) If they are light, flighty breeds like Leghorns or game types, you may never be able to contain them with a 4 foot fence, wing clipping or no. You'll need a taller fence or a roof over the pen. Heavier breeds are usually lazier and less inclined to fly anyway, so these are the ones wing clipping works best on; they can barely get off the ground even with wing feathers.