Flying Chickens

[Gopeckgo]

Depends. It can be easier but it's not hard to do by myself. I either have the chicken facing out towards my side, almost facing behind me under my arm, and have their left arm pinned against my torso, while my left arm is under their right wing. I can support their body and hold the wing out to cut with scissors in my right hand.

Or, I can have them facing to my right, with their right wing pinned against my chest. I have their head just above the inner crook of my elbow and take my left hand, sort of pushing in on their left side to support and extending the left wing, cutting with my right.


I have tried just cutting one wing as I read that cutting both can cause some birds to stabilize and still be able to fly, but for whatever reason that did not work. So now I cut both wings. I would say it takes maybe 2 months to grow in partially, enough that my frequent fliers start hopping fences again.

I do have some birds who can fly with clipped wings, but with clipped wings they focus on only doing it to get to their roost instead of hopping the fence to be where they shouldn't be.

Thanks. Is 20 weeks too early to clip?

 

[SnackMeat]

Once they start flying over whatever boundary you have set, then it's time to clip. I think we had to start clipping some around 2.5-3 months. We recently had to recut some of them (only the ones hopping over again.)


It's up to you if you want to clip everyone at once, if they free range and you're worried they'll get too far, say, before you come home from work. Our's normally stayed within 20-30 feet of the boundary line so we were a bit lazy about getting on to it fast but did eventually do it.


Intriguingly, the 4 or so that have had to be clipped a second time, only had half or so of their wings feathers grown back in, but it was enough for them to fly over. But once again, not everyone from the first group was just itching for the chance to hop the fence. A couple probably got too big but we have a lot of heritage breeds that are still fairly small. Some have, some haven't.


It is a decision to consider though-- we have a favorite from a breed that is very good at foraging and avoiding predators (Hamburgs.) but both our male and female were hopping the fence and we were worried they would eventually draw too much attention from cats or dogs who normally avoid trying to get behind our fences.


We did clip both wings but I do worry this means that they won't be as fast from aerial predators. Or if cats do eventually come to visit.

 

[Gopeckgo]

Once they start flying over whatever boundary you have set, then it's time to clip. I think we had to start clipping some around 2.5-3 months. We recently had to recut some of them (only the ones hopping over again.)


It's up to you if you want to clip everyone at once, if they free range and you're worried they'll get too far, say, before you come home from work. Our's normally stayed within 20-30 feet of the boundary line so we were a bit lazy about getting on to it fast but did eventually do it.


Intriguingly, the 4 or so that have had to be clipped a second time, only had half or so of their wings feathers grown back in, but it was enough for them to fly over. But once again, not everyone from the first group was just itching for the chance to hop the fence. A couple probably got too big but we have a lot of heritage breeds that are still fairly small. Some have, some haven't.


It is a decision to consider though-- we have a favorite from a breed that is very good at foraging and avoiding predators (Hamburgs.) but both our male and female were hopping the fence and we were worried they would eventually draw too much attention from cats or dogs who normally avoid trying to get behind our fences.


We did clip both wings but I do worry this means that they won't be as fast from aerial predators. Or if cats do eventually come to visit.

Thanks for all the advice! I will see how it goes trying to clip them myself…

 

[SnackMeat]

If you're worried, you can loosely burrito them in a towel, lightly cover their face, and uncover one wing. And nothing says you have to do it all at once. You can do one wing and get around to the other wing later.

Also you can try waiting for them to fall asleep, using a red light, and taking them off their roost so they are more likely to stay still, and then clip.


You can also sit cross legged on the ground so it's more easily to surround their body, and put one arm over them while stretching a wing out to clip. I would say facing them towards your torso is better because they can't easily dart forward to get away.

 

[Gopeckgo]

If you're worried, you can loosely burrito them in a towel, lightly cover their face, and uncover one wing. And nothing says you have to do it all at once. You can do one wing and get around to the other wing later.

Also you can try waiting for them to fall asleep, using a red light, and taking them off their roost so they are more likely to stay still, and then clip.


You can also sit cross legged on the ground so it's more easily to surround their body, and put one arm over them while stretching a wing out to clip. I would say facing them towards your torso is better because they can't easily dart forward to get away.

Thank you for all the wonderful ideas ! I think I will try the sitting on the ground tip first