Clipping wings ???

[FeelingStupid]

Hi Lisa, When you say "older" , about what age/poundage do they stop trying to go over the fence? No only did the bird I wrote about above go over, but the next day one of her sisters did too. She decided to nest right in front of a neighbo'rs front door in a bush and when their dog came out of the house that was the end of her. So sad. So the remaining three went back to their former owner and hopefully will find a home with a much taller fence than what I have (mine is 4 feet). These were big birds at 7 months old and for whatever reason wanted to be in a front yard. I have a large hilly lot with a lot of cover and completely fenced in but that didn't deter them. I wish now that I'd seen them hop onto the fence so I'd know if they were using their wings (and thus would stay in the yard if I clipped them) or if they were strong enough to just hop up so clipping wouldn't make any difference. They are RR and 1 Plymouth. I'd love to have them back if clipping would work but I'm really scared that they could make it just by jumping. Does anyone know if clipping big determined birds like that would keep them in a 4 foot fence?

 

[TXchickmum]

My pair of OEGB love to take flight. I was outside when the pullet flew to the top of the covered patio. After witnessing that, it was clear that she could easily fly over the 6 ft. fence. (The neighbors have dogs - one of which has already killed one of their chickens) I decided to clip (one wing, as a previous poster stated). The birds still leap around and roost on lawn furniture. They aren't rendered unable to navigate, just unable to fly 12 ft. into the air. Our larger birds and one bantam rooster don't seem to be intrigued with flying. I say you must weigh your situation - birds escaping the safety of their yard and ending up in a dangerous situation v. potential vulnerability to predator atttack.

 

[TXchickmum]

-and to the poster above regarding the 4 ft. fence: First of all, I am so sorry for the loss of your bird. -that has to be heartbreaking. Honestly, I would think that a clipped bird (even of a larger breed) could potentially leap onto a 4 ft. fence. Our neighbor's bird (red sex link) cleared their chicken wire run fence prior to being clipped (3 ft. fence). After being clipped, they still jumped up and over. -so I would say the potential is there....just don't know for certain.

 

[lonelychicken]

I have a 5' chain link fence and several of the hens got good at scaling the fence - I hated to think of clipping their wings - I was just too afraid to do it - so I ordered a netting to go over their yard wich is 12X20 - unfortunately some preditor got them the day before the netting arrived.

if your chicken yard can have a net put over it - I would do that - now my girls get to hop around and and have short flights and they can't get out.... and chicken hawks can't get in!

 

[SOchic4]

Help!?! my leggern has jumped out of her run 3 days in a row, thank goodness when we walk out shes just relaxing in the yard (dont know for how long) anywayz clipped her top long feathers on one side probably about a 1/4 in and she finally SHOWED me how she just kinda hops right out next cut about 1/2 inch making top feathers a SMIDGE shorter than he bottom ones ( i know the picture showed to use the bottom ones as sort of a guide, but hers are sooo long) anyways i have to wait till tomorrow to see if she can get out again, my question is if she can still get out what do i do next?? how far are you originally suppose to cut them, and is it a possibility that clipping them isnt going to help??

 

[TXchickmum]

Clipping them should help, depending upon the height of your run. Some chickens can leap a decent distance. I have a few standard pullets that can leap at least 3 - 4 feet off of the ground. -have to make certain that there aren't any lawn chairs too close to the 6 ft. fence, or they'd simply jump from the ground to chair to fence top. We clip about an inch off of the long feathers on top (never close enough to clip in the quick and draw blood). Again, this helps keep them from just flying across the lawn or up high enough to scale the fence. -doesn't prevent the jumping.

 

[SOchic4]

2 days so far (knock on wood) and she hasnt gotten back out again, do you think clipping their wing stunts their jumping ability a little?

 

[defenestration]

Well, what it does is make it so that when they flap their wings, they get out of balance. Soon they get discouraged and stop trying to fly.

I too have a leghorn that I had to clip... seems to have worked. I think she might still have the ability to hop our 4ft fence if she wanted too, but she never does.

 

[Marty1876]

Just remember to only clip one wing, if you clip two, it evens out, and back to flight. Trim every 4-6 weeks a bit, to keep it working. It will not take them long to figure it out once they can do it again.

 

[SOchic4]

welp i knocked on wood too soon, she has gotten out the last 3 days!?! im beside myself i dont know what to do, i clipped the one wing and it had to been far enough i know it was atleast and inch, so she must be hopping it, where and how i have no idea our fence is 4 or 5ft not sure which, gonna sound silly but is there something i can feed her to fatten her up so she cant jump as good? or any other ideas ASAP shes good when she gets out of her pen just chills out and wonders close to her pen but it drives the rest of the girls crazy and i do live by a road but the chickens never go near it SO FAR hellllpppp