Official BYC Poll: Do You Clip Your Chickens' Wings?

[BYC Project Manager]

Wing clipping is the most common method of controlling the flight of backyard chickens. For example, some may fly over your fence or out of their uncovered run, exposing them to all sorts of dangers. Clipping the wings just means cutting a little bit off the first few feathers on the wing, making it harder for them to fly. Some like to just clip one wing so that they fly sideways as this imbalances the bird, making it difficult for her/him to fly.

Do you clip your chickens' wings? Place your vote above & feel free to elaborate in the comments section.

Further reading:
How To Clip Trim The Wings Of Your Chicken To Prevent Flight

(Check out more Official BYC Polls HERE!)

 

[589205]

Pardon me* but no, I don't.

 

[RebeccaRN]

I haven't needed to but will if they ever fly out of the yard. They are almost a year old and haven't tried yet so I think I'm pretty safe.

 

[Hanathehappyhen]

I clipped my one of my hens wings once because she would flap over the fence and then peck around outside for fun. Her wings got clipped and she stopped flapping out, but a raccoon came in and attacked her. She was alright, but I’ll always want to give my chickens the best chance of living through an attack! Other than that, nobody wants to escape.

 

[589205]

It's natural to escape predators.

 

[3KillerBs]

I have not clipped any wings, but would be willing to do it if I felt that I needed to.

I don't think that it has any particular drawbacks and some advantages.

 

[CluckerFamily]

I don’t clip my chickens wings or wing. I haven’t been in the situation that I would even think about it: I live in the country with a good chunk of land.
It may be different if I lived in a suburb and if I didn’t have an enclosed run.

 

[Anne02]

I do with some of my more flighty gals. My Leghorns especially. My roo protects them from any predators, so I don't worry about that.

 

[Trisseh]

They don’t get clipped unless they become a problem. If they do need it, it generally only needs to be for the timeframe before their next molt, and then I don’t seem to have any issues - I do one wing so they still get some lift if they need to get up off the ground but not enough for the sustained flap-jump to escape. They train themselves that they “can’t” get wherever they were going while clipped, so can continue to be left alone if they behave. Lol. It was especially helpful when I brought in a mature call duck and her 6 ducklings, because she was WILD when she first came and I think I would’ve lost her somewhere if she hadn’t been clipped before I got her. She’s great now, molted this fall and can fly again, but she’s settled down and is totally chill. I’ve also clipped my extra boys’ wings to make sure they stay in their temporary pen and don’t make their way back into the main pen and get the snot kicked out of them by the big fella.

 

[Jrios58]

Wing clipping is the most common method of controlling the flight of backyard chickens. For example, some may fly over your fence or out of their uncovered run, exposing them to all sorts of dangers. Clipping the wings just means cutting a little bit off the first few feathers on the wing, making it harder for them to fly. Some like to just clip one wing so that they fly sideways as this imbalances the bird, making it difficult for her/him to fly.

Do you clip your chickens' wings? Place your vote above & feel free to elaborate in the comments section.

View attachment 2508536

Further reading:
How To Clip Trim The Wings Of Your Chicken To Prevent Flight

(Check out more Official BYC Polls HERE!)

Couldn't find the comments section. I clip the ones i can catch!!