Clipping wings.

[Fancychooklady]

I haven't had anyone here to help me so I haven't got around to clipping the second wing. The kids are off to ' dark mofo ' tonight so I'll just have to do it next week. I haven't had any blood when I did the one wing.

 

[Sylviaanne]

I kind of wondered about that. The shafts of the feathers look hollow. I looked at the ends to make sure they weren't bleeding. Thanks. Sylvia

 

[centrarchid]

I'm pretty sure once it's no longer a "blood feather" you can cut it almost to the skin, can't you?

Cutting that close is difficult for me because scissors are either too course for such tight confines or too light to get through feathers in one cut. Cutting each feather is a pain in the butt.

Otherwise no problems.

 

[subhanalah]

Cutting that close is difficult for me because scissors are either too course for such tight confines or too light to get through feathers in one cut. Cutting each feather is a pain in the butt.

Otherwise no problems.

but once it's a mature feather, as long as you don't cut the skin, you won't hurt the bird, right?

 

[centrarchid]

but once it's a mature feather, as long as you don't cut the skin, you won't hurt the bird, right?

Correct.

 

[subhanalah]

Correct.

 

[SusanPC]

I know this thread is a few weeks old, but thought I would share my experience. We added a pen for daytime roaming with a fence only 4 feet high. We clipped all 4 pullets wings on both sides. There are lots of YouTube videos out there to help you know what to cut. It's easier with two people and sharp scissors. If you stick with primary feathers only and cut to the ne xt set of feathers it's pretty much marked out for you naturally on the wing.

All pullets didn't fly out again for about two weeks. Now my SLW started flying out again, so we clipped her again today. Only about 1/2 the feathers had grown long again, but she is our lightest girl and on the bottom of the pecking order, so she is always motivated to get away from the other three.

Clipping works well for us, if you can keep up with it. We are hoping we won't have to clip too often as they mature. They are 18 weeks now.

 

[Fluffychickens6]

Can you clip their wings when they're 8-9 weeks...? or do u have to wait?

 

[SusanPC]

I think you are okay to clip them at 8 or 9 weeks. I actually wound up having my girls still figuring out how to get over the 4-ft. fence if I had anything flat near it. Now that they are 8 months old, they don't fly over the 4-ft. fence, but they do fly up to the 4 ft. high table. I just make sure the table is well away from the fence and they don't seem inclined to go over. Of course, the fact that we now have a puppy on the other side of that fence is probably also deterring them from hopping out.

Good luck.

 

[Fluffychickens6]

Alright thank you!