Do you clip wings?

[skatcatla]

Quote:
hmm..that's an interesting point because I am very much against declawing cats.

However, its really not an apples to apples comparison. Declawing a cat is a true mutilation of the foot. The end result is not really one of protection, because cats don't really use claws for protection. They use them for walking, climbing, and scent-marking, as well as for hunting. De-clawing a cat affects its balance and its permanent..the claws don't grow back.

Clipping a wing is like clipping a fingernail. It will grow back and its not detrimental to the bird for walking around; although I'm sure that its frustrating to the chicken (to the extent chickens CAN feel frustration,).

 

[GoodEgg]

I haven't clipped the chickens yet, but I did clip the ducks' wings. The neighbor saw that we had them, and asked us to, because he didn't want them coming into his yard.

Since he specifically asked, I thought it was better for the sake of keeping the peace.

One day his daschund found a hole in the fence, and the ducks still chased him out. Now that one is breeding, the drakes and the other duck are VERY aggressive and will attack any cat/dog/person that comes along, except those of us that feed them. (Even though I don't think they can do much actual damage.)

The chicks do fly around a lot when I let them out though. I guess I will probably be clipping them soon to keep them in the yard, if need be.

But it's definitely a matter of preference. And each person's situation is probably a little bit different.

trish

 

[Mac in Wisco]

You would think they would fly up tsomeplace high when in trouble, but in my expereience they don't. We had one bird that was added to our flock that was picked on by the other birds. She had an entire mesquite tree to hide in, plus the rafters of the coop and she would hunker down in a corner while they pecked at her. We had a couple of small dogs get in the chicken pen and kill most of our birds. Again, a huge mesquite tree in the pen for them to go to or in the rafters of the coop, but most had bites and tears around there back end where the dogs had pulled them out the corners where they went to hide...