Am adopting a pullet hatched around May in a few days or next week. They clipped one of her wings before they knew they wouldn't be keeping her.
So, since I tend to free day-range my chickens, whose wings I've never clipped (or at least let them out of their large run most of the time), I want a chicken that can escape any predators and also any other chickens she may not get along with because she can't fly normally, etc. I need her to not have a clipped wing ... if that is possible. It's a safety issue, to me, and I'd like her to be able to act like a natural chicken does instead of being sort of held back by the impediment of a wing that doesn't work as the hen expected it to when she grew it out the first time.
She won't go through a natural molt until next fall. So waiting a year for her to molt naturally is not ideal.
I'm wondering if I were to pluck out the clipped feathers if they would grow back in the next month or so. I could keep her separated in a small 4x8 coop/pen with my most docile hen for company so no one picked on those few empty follicles--if necessary--plus she could get a tweaked feed ration so that her feathers could grow back at the quickest natural rate possible.
Has anyone dealt with this before? What am I forgetting or not realizing? I just want this new chicken to be able to safely hang out with my free day-range flock.
So, since I tend to free day-range my chickens, whose wings I've never clipped (or at least let them out of their large run most of the time), I want a chicken that can escape any predators and also any other chickens she may not get along with because she can't fly normally, etc. I need her to not have a clipped wing ... if that is possible. It's a safety issue, to me, and I'd like her to be able to act like a natural chicken does instead of being sort of held back by the impediment of a wing that doesn't work as the hen expected it to when she grew it out the first time.
She won't go through a natural molt until next fall. So waiting a year for her to molt naturally is not ideal.
I'm wondering if I were to pluck out the clipped feathers if they would grow back in the next month or so. I could keep her separated in a small 4x8 coop/pen with my most docile hen for company so no one picked on those few empty follicles--if necessary--plus she could get a tweaked feed ration so that her feathers could grow back at the quickest natural rate possible.
Has anyone dealt with this before? What am I forgetting or not realizing? I just want this new chicken to be able to safely hang out with my free day-range flock.