? on wing feather clipping

[GordieH]

I am wanting to let my chickens free range in our backyard. We live in town. We have a 6' privacy fence. I don't want them flying over the fence into neighbors' yards as most of them have several dogs each. One immediate neighbor has 4 large breed dogs that run loose in their yard most of the day.

I have a dozen pullets and will have 2 roosters I am going to keep and 4 more that are going to be raised for us to eat. I also have some ducks that are running free right now. I am thinking of clipping their flight feathers. Didn't want to do anything as permanent as pinioning. I would have to make several smaller or one bulky Chicken Tractor if I don't clip their flight feathers.

What is the consensus on wing clipping?

 

[ddmiddle7]

From what I have read and heard, all you need to clip is one side and you just trim the flight feathers down, and that should prevent them from being able to fly more than about 2-3 feet. Which they need, to access roosts and nesting boxes and such. I am getting ready to trim my five pullets wings here in the next couple of weeks. We have a 6 foot privacy fence just ten minutes from downtown Indy. Mine are 14 weeks old and just recently started trying to fly up high...they tried to roost on my awning last night ....it's 8 foot high and she almost made it. I know you need to use the sharpest pair of scissors you can.
Hopefully someone with experience will reply with some tips on how to do this easily.

Dereck

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