Flock of 13 week old muscovies - to clip wings or not?

[BeanieandtheRoo]

I have a flock of 14 muscovies that are 13 weeks old. We kept them in a run starting around 3 weeks. In the last 3 weeks or so, we've been letting them free range during the day and putting them up at night. Only about half of them leave the run at all, and the group that does stays close (within about 30 feet of the run) although they are getting a little more brave with time. We will continue to put them up at night for safety, so my question is really just about daytime activities.

I'm torn on whether to clip their wings or not. I love free ranging them and want them to be able to flee from predators (we do have a farm dog that does a good job keeping critters away) but obviously don't want them to fly away.

I guess my question is, is their personality as a flock ever fixed? If they stay close to home now, can I assume that they will continue to? Am I overthinking the predator risk since they get put up at nighttime anyway and most things don't hunt in the middle of the day?

If anyone has experience weighing these options, I'd appreciate it! Of course maybe it just comes down to personal preference or comfort with one risk over the other. Happy to hear that, too.

 

[Pollo Blanco]

No

 

[Miss Lydia]

Many Muscovy have flown away from their homes that is why there are so many feral ones. I started out with Muscovy my first came from the river down below us. I never had to clip his wing because he was happy here with his females and never tried flying once he was settled in. My females, I clip one wing just to keep them off balance and they can't fly. Mine free range too but it is inside fencing. It's really your decision but I will say they will fly up on roofs of our homes, cars and anything else they can land on. I had a time getting a few of mine down off the coop roof so an owl wouldn't swoop in and snatch one but once I clipped a wing that was taken care of. They need to be closed up at night for protection.

 

[BeanieandtheRoo]

Many Muscovy have flown away from their homes that is why there are so many feral ones. I started out with Muscovy my first came from the river down below us. I never had to clip his wing because he was happy here with his females and never tried flying once he was settled in. My females, I clip one wing just to keep them off balance and they can't fly. Mine free range too but it is inside fencing. It's really your decision but I will say they will fly up on roofs of our homes, cars and anything else they can land on. I had a time getting a few of mine down off the coop roof so an owl wouldn't swoop in and snatch one but once I clipped a wing that was taken care of. They need to be closed up at night for protection.

Thanks for sharing your experience! We have a large deck where our kids play a lot and I don't really want to be hosing it off every day. That helps, maybe we'll try one wing and see how that goes.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Just do one wing it will keep them unbalanced so they can't fly. I have heard people say they clipped both wings and they still fly. There are instructions online that show where to clip.