Is wing clipping neccessary?

[gritsar]

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I had a chicken start bleeding in the feathers when I clipped their wings and dont know what I did wrong. This is the first time this ever happened. Did I do something wrong? Is this normal?

Hi and welcome to BYC!
Sounds like you hit a blood feather.
You might want to move your question to the emergencies category. When your question is tacked onto another thread like this, it often gets overlooked and you'll get few if any responses.
Good luck to you.

 

[kuntrygirl]

I never clip wings. I want them to be able to escape from predators. All of my birds are in a fence around 2 acres.

 

[kuntrygirl]

I never clip wings. I want them to be able to escape from predators. All of my birds are in a fence around 2 acres.

 

[NellaBean]

I had not planned to clip wings. Now my 22 week old white leghorns and buttercups are flying over my 6 foot coop fence. And also over my perimeter 4 foot fence. They are separated by approx 15-20 feet. They are clearing both the 6 foot fence, the distance between them, and the 4 foot perimeter fence. All in one jump/flight. Not to mention they land about 10-20 feet deep into the brush outside the perimeter fence. It is absolutely ridiculous how well they fly.

One girl was really lazing about at lock up time the other night. So I shut the pop door into her run, so I could bring the little ones in from their run without them going out her door. Guess I took too long as she flew up onto the top of the coop while she was waiting. It is about 8 feet tall (6 feet, plus 2 feet of posts underneath).

Needless to say, I will be clipping wings as soon as I figure out how.

I do not worry about my Jersey Giants flying out. My smaller light breeds easily fly out of whatever they want. They white leghorns are the worst. The blue andalusians are seriousl awesome fliers. I am afraid to let them anywhere but a covered run without trimming flight feathers on them.

 

[fordmommy]

Quote:
Your JG are going to have a hard time flying out. They are heavy. My BA has a hard time getting more than 3 feet off the ground. A 6' fence? No. I don't think they will.

But here's some links on how to.

http://www.omlet.us/guide/guide.php?view=Ducks&cat=Duck+Health&sub=wing+clipping

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

 

[Uppity Peon]

I would not clip wings unless it becomes an issue where you find you have to. I find they don't cross fences that much... although a bunch of them crossed from my back yard to the front this morning, probably after first jumping onto the compost bin. I don't have a real problem with that unless someone forgets to check for chickens in the front before letting the dogs out.

They do most of their exploring in the morning and want to hang out in the shade by the coop when the sun is high.

 

[NellaBean]

I came out yesterday to THREE girls having flown out of their 6 foot pen. This time they had not flown out of the yard completely...they were still within the perimeter fence, hanging out with the giant rooster (who I was trying to keep separate). I caught those three and clipped one wing each. I only have one flier left unclipped (forgot to do it after they were roosting). We'll see if anyone makes a great escape this week. Once mine figured it out, they started flying out incessantly. I had one a day last week then the three yesterday all together was the last straw.

I am not clipping the cochins, the jersey giant or the little red girl (she has never been a flier). I will clip all the andalusians as they are little flying machines. Basically all the mediteranean breeds will be clipped. Once they figure out they can fly out....all bets are off!