clipping wings question

[bwinn01]

I have recently hatched 6 recused eggs from a red jungle fowl, this is a breed of wild chicken, she was living wild in my yard and was killed by some critter during the night. The chicks are 9 days old and can already fly some. Enough to make it almost imposible to clean the cage they are in right now. They are way too young to be on their own. I am thinking I need to clip thier wings, I will of course make sure they have thier wings back before releasing them. My question is, is it OK to clip as young as they are, will it hurt?

 

[Badbaby05]

You have to check if the are blood feathers or not. If they are blood feathers then NO don't clip them.

 

[bwinn01]

Quote:
how can I tell if they are blood feathers

 

[La Mike]

Never clip past the end of the first layer of feathers .You only want to clip their flight feathers. And yes they will most likely be able to fly out of the brooder soon. I have had them fly out by day 10.

 

[galanie]

Blood feathers still have a thick "straw" thing around them. If you clip that straw thing, they could bleed to death. By the way, if somehow that happens, flour or corn starch is really good to help stop the blood flow.

At that age, I'd be leery of clipping their wings. You only clip the ones from the last joint to the wing tip, and never shorter than the first layer of feathers. They should have two layers, like lilililil - and you clip the l's to the length of the i's.

 

[bwinn01]

Thanks everyone, I think I'll try moving them to something deep that opens from the top, and not clip their wings