How do you clip chicken wings?

[gwendalynn28]

Hi,
I have 8 new baby chicks a friend gave to me and they are almost a month old. They can fly pretty good and I've seen postings for "wing clipping" and I don't know what that means. I'm new to raising chickens! Could someone explain this process in a way that a severe chicken amateur can understand? I have a large chicken fenced area with my three broilers in it and when these little chickens get a little bigger, I'd like to merge the two groups. I would really like for them to share this space because its so big, but I don't want them getting out. I live out in the country with lots of critters that would love to eat them. Is it safe to put a piece of electric fencing around the top or would them fly right over it with no effect? Any suggestions anyone?

 

[Imp]

Clipping wings is just the ends of the main flight feathers. Many people just do one side to keep them off balance. It may limit there ability to get away from predators, if they are outside.

Here's instructions

http://www.poultryhelp.com/wingclipping.html

Imp

 

[Yay Chicks!]

Is the "large fenced area" your yard? Or is it a large chicken run? If it's a run, could you put poultry netting over the top of it? Or is it just too large an area to cover?

 

[Freckle Face Farm]

youtube chicken wing cutting

 

[gwendalynn28]

The area I have is all my property and the fence is way too large to cover with poultry netting. I have a corner of the large fence sectioned off and covered for now since they are still small. I have 3.54 acres of land with 80 acres of woods behind it. We have a lot of hawks and owls flying overhead as well. Snakes have been a problem for us since we moved here as well. A snake bit my pomeranian and killed her. I want these chickens to have space to roam in the big pen but I don't want to make them fast food for all the predators that are around!