Escaping their run

[Hortgirl]

Hello, I just went through this with my speckled sussex, fluffy(named by 5 y/o niece lol). I raised the fence up to 6 feet, but she kept Houdiniing. I ended up clipping her flight feathers...and she stll flew out! Learned you need to clip them pretty low for it to be effective. After her second "haircut", she has not escaped once. If blocking the hole doesn't work, I'd recommend clipping both wings. It's really easy, causes no pain, and keeps your chicken safer from predators inside their run. Here's a pic of the escape artist for fun
View attachment 2067766

Should you really clip both wings? I’ve only clipped one wing (per bird) cause I thought it was lack of balance that kept them earthbound. Did I get that wrong?

 

[Goshenga]

How closely clipped are the wings? If you don't clip enough they can still get good lift.

I've seen someone post that they had chickens that learned to climb a fence and then jump off the top, so in extreme cases even a good clipping job might not be enough.

I've read about it done both ways successfully, but having only clipped both, I can't really confirm or deny that. I think its lack of surface area in their wings catching air that keeps them earthbound. I chose to clip both because some people said they could develop balance problems if you only do one, and my hen was totally fine with it(didn't struggle at all) so i figured what the heck. If yours seem fine with one clipped, and aren't escaping, they're probably fine.

 

[Goshenga]

Thanks. I'll check that.