If I clip their wings, will they be able to reach their roost bar?

[limabean]

Choosing this forum because my question relates to the coop & run space.

I have 6 hens, 5 months old, at least 5 of them now laying.

They now have 32 square feet of indoor space (4'x8') and 56 square feet of outdoor space (14' x 4').

Their new roosting bar is 2'10" above the shavings, with about 14 inches of headspace above it.

So, they have a good amount of space, but I want to let them out in our yard sometimes, so am thinking of clipping their wings (we live at a somewhat busy corner and I know from a friend with chooks the same age and breeds that they could get over the fence).

Will they still be able to access their roosting bar with clipped wings - will their aim for that height, with that limited headspace, be okay? And I know there is debate over clipping one wing or both - what might be better considering this scenario?

Thanks!
Selene

 

[sherylreno]

I've found they can still jump over 4' high with their wings clipped so my answer is yes, they should be able to reach their roosts. Clipped wings will only stop them from flying and not jumping. I only have 1 chicken that likes to jump out of their enclosure so I clipped her wings to stop her but she still jumps over their 4' high fence.

 

[limabean]

My yard fence is 6 feet high. Though there are things they could use to get up there (a lilac tree, a play structure). Hoping that since they can't see out ) (privacy fence) they won't try to venture out...

 

[limabean]

Bumping for more opinions.

 

[kittykat01]

I have clipped the feathers on the one wing of each of my chickens. They can still easily jump 4 feet, even the large girls (Australorp). Clipping the wing seems to have put them off balance, so they are less inclined to 'fly' long distances across the yard, but they can still ' jump' quite high if they really want to.

One thing I did notice is that clipping their wings made them more clumsy at landing when jumping/flying off the roost. I was worried that they would hurt themselves crash landing, so I have put in a ladder that leads to the roost and nest boxes. So far so good, even with the scatterbrain sussex chicks..

The thing that has worked best for me in preventing escape from the coop is to stretch some light mesh (bird netting that you put over fruit trees) around the perimeter, on top of the fence. Because they can not see a firm edge to jump on to, they don't seem to jump.

 

[limabean]

Thank you kittykat! I am interested in how you used the mesh - do you have a picture you would not mind sharing?