Flying???/

[ChicMom1961]

So my chicks are flying!!! I thought they maybe too young for this...LOL opened the brooder to clean water and food.. and one of my Ameracanus flies to the top of the brooder and gets out!!! boy this was fun and thank god in a room in the house so I could catch her...

At what age do they start this and how and when do you clip the wings to keep them from flying or will they adjust and not fly out of the yard when older

Thanks

 

[FarmerMac]

I noticed that once they have the wing feathers, they start to fly. I keep mine outdoors in a coop and they free range. In my case, I never clip their wing feathers so they can fly away from predators. My turkeys also have their wing feathers for the same reason. Some people don't like for their chickens to fly over the fence or up onto the trees. I have seen some roosters fly across the yard to protect the hens and some of them climb on top of the coop's roof to keep a lookout. Every person has their own situation and reasons for clipping or not clipping wing feathers.

 

[azygous]

Just as soon as a chick grows an inch or so of feathers on the tips of their tiny little wing stubs, they will attempt to take them for a test drive. It's usually sometime around the end of the second week.

I don't believe clipping a baby chick's wings is the best way to prevent them escaping their brooder. If you really have no alternative to keeping your chicks in a brooder box indoors, the best thing to do is cover the brooder with some sort of netting. I used to use cheese cloth stretched over the top.

The best thing to do is to brood your chicks outdoors in your run in a roomy and safe chick pen. (See my article linked below on brooding outdoors.) But in lieu of that, daily field trips outdoors during nice weather from age two weeks on will help the chicks use up their energy and be less likely to be a problem indoors. Yes, they can handle brief periods away from their heat source, and it's so much fun to see them romp and play with joyful abandon.

 

[Sea Wolf]

I agree. Do not cut the wing feathers. Change your brooder to have higher sides and /or cover it. You should cover it anyway to prevent escapes. I have my newly hatched chicks in a cardboard box with shavings on the bottom. At some point, they start testing their wings and they will jump to the top of the watering container and then to the top edge of the cardboard box where they perch and test their skills at walking around the top edge of the cardboard. I now toss that out and get a bigger cardboard box. **Cardboard boxes are free I might add and very disposable** I usually end up with boxes from the grocery store that had paper towels in them and might even tape two of those together. Once they are able to reach the top of that box, I cover the top with screening and put an end to the jumping game. I give them lengths of wood for perches (Stuck through holes in bricks for support). After another week or two they now get moved outside. After they are hatched and until their feathers are grown in they have a heat source. After that, nothing for heat. I have never had any hen try to jump out over anything higher than a 4 foot wire fence and most don't even try that.

 

[ChicMom1961]

Thank you so much.... I guess I did not mention that I have a mesh over the top and it was when I opened it that 1 decided to fly to the top and explore...

OK I read articles that say never to cut the chicks wings and wasn't sure how or what people do on this subject . I am new to chickens so any advise I will take...