Clipping Wings

[kuntrygirl]

Does anyone have a picture of a chicken with a clipped wing? I need to clip my chicken's wings but I'm afraid. I have researched online and saw pics but was wonderig if anyone on BYC can show me a picture of their chicken after the wing has been clipped. I know when you clip their wings, they aren't able to fly but no one has talked about them being able to jump and climb and scale a 5 foot fence.

. Can anyone say Chicken Olympics?

 

[mandelyn]

It's better if you clip just one, throws them for a loop because the balance is off. If no one posts one, I'll grab a chicken tomorrow and have husband take a photo pre cut, mid cut, and after cut while I have it spread. I have 3 birds that won't mind, so that's 6 chances to get a good photo. LOL

 

[DawnM]

I learned by watching a video on YouTube. This family had a vet come out to their place to show them and they recorded it. I can't find it now, they may have taken it down, but there's still quite a few. Here is a good, quick one:

. They recommended both wings but we only did one like the previous poster said and it did work quite well at throwing them off. Half went up, the other half couldn't, and they gave up pretty quickly. They were roosting on the 5 foot fence before but they don't bother now and the feathers have grown back.

 

[Ed62]

The first time I clipped the wings, I thought it would be safer to just clip a little off instead of risking a bloody wing. That lasted 1 day. Had to go back to clip them shorter. Although it's easy to do correctly, I don't think I'd do it again unless the birds were flying out of the run, like they were before. But they're a lot bigger now, and can't fly high enough to get over the fence. No reason to clip now. You can also do a google search for instructions on clipping them. The youtube videos are good, and there are other sites that have how-to pages on the subject.

Ed

 

[swimmer]

Is there a certain age they get flighty? Our girls are 16 weeks and I haven't seen them go higher than a few feet. Knock on wood. Or maybe it's the breed. I've got an EE, Welsummer, Sussex, and a White Rock. Should I clip as a precaution? Would hate to have them fly over the fence and end up on the neighbors dinner table.

 

[greenSearcher]

I started clipping when my 4 month old EE sailed over my 6ft garden fence. Things were great until the roo started molting, and he now has new wings, quite pretty, but he hasn't forgotten how to fly. I was giving each of the chickens the annual physical the other day, and of course the roo was last, the evasive booger. So when I opened the coop door, it is a small door, only 3 ft high, and 3 ft off the ground, he was crouched down and the next thing he zoomed out over my head. Not at my head thank goodness but cleared it easily by a foot or so. Hmmm, looks like a late night snatch to do the physical and trim those pretty wings.
I clip both wings, it strikes me as mean to cause them to be off balance. Oh my roo is a Speckled Sussex, I think all your breeds will probably need their wings clipped, unless the White Rock is quite heavy.

 

[michickenwrangler]

Quote:
Yup. My gold comets know to stay in the run now, but the black stars were getting over the fence every other day. Time to get the scissors!

Also make sure that no waterers, feeders, perches, stumps, etc... are near the fence. Mine used the waterer for a launchpad!

 

[kuntrygirl]

Quote:
I wanted to clip both wings but was scared. So, I guess you can clip both wings then huh?

 

[carrlr]

You can clip both wings, but it's not needed. One seems to throw them off-balanced or something and they don't try. I clipped mine a time or two when they were younger. Now they are bigger and they don't even try to fly.