Do you clip your chickens' wings?

[Coopmom56]

I have recently (for about a week now) begun to let my 15-week old pullets free-range around the yard in the evening. I got them when they were 12-weeks old. They seem to love it, but they are pretty skittish - a bird flies overhead or they hear an unfamiliar noise or for some reason known only in their chicken brains, one freaks out and flies about 2 feet off the ground and then the other three freak out and there is much fluttering and squawking before they calm down. We have a 6-foot fence surrounding the area in which they forage, but we also have trees close to the fence and I'm a little worried they might get brave (or overly freaked out) and fly in a tree and then over the fence.

So - do you or do you not clip your chickens' wings? If not, why not? Am I worried for nothing? TIA -

--coopmom56

 

[Alexandra33]

We actually don't clip their wings, because since we allow ours to free-range, we want them to be able to escape ground predators by flying up on beams in our barns or onto tree branches. We've got some FABULOUS fliers who can just go right over the fence without any trouble at all. Also, chickens won't actually fly away from your property, so that's another reason why we don't disable their flying abilities. I only clip our 3 Mallard ducks' flight feathers because there is actually a chance of them flying away. However, I think you should do what makes you comfortable.

-Alexandra33