PROPER WING CLIPPING TO AID IN CONTAINMENT WITH PERIMETER FENCING

[centrarchid]

See linked video. Not best but should suffice. Unfornate juvenile will be only clipped bird not to be culled this year. She will be totally back in flight within 60 days.

 

[fur-mum]

Very well done experiment, IMO.

 

[fur-mum]

Again clipping BOTH wings is wrong!

Why?

 

[RWise]

Why?

Because,,,ok IMHO clipping more than about 3/4 of an inch is cruelty. One should only take a bit of the light feather tips from only one wing, this will stop flight. The entire purpous is to set the bird off balance while in flight. It will not stop jumping nor will taking their wings off stop jumping.
If my birds go out in the street, I grade part of the yard, they are going after the small gravel.
If they go next door, I increase feed and open more pasture.
If they go outside the yard to lay, I keep them in the coop for random amounts of time for a week or so to reset them.

Bottom line is if they are going over the fence there is a problem and it is not because they have feathers on their wing/s!

 

[happyfrenchman]

Bottom line is if they are going over the fence there is a problem and it is not because they have feathers on their wing/s![/QUOTE]
RWise...
Not everyone is able to "open more pasture" I have had occasion to clip small lovebirds for reasons usually related to "safety" but I stopped doing it because I thought that was somewhat wrong, so I might know somewhat about what you may feel, .... but a chicken, keeping it in it's yard....I don't think it is cruel to clip a bird that's primary means of locomotion is it's legs.... It can still do most of it's behaviors.... They can still do that funny running while flapping.... (not as fast) it just cannot fly out of your protected area. And taking only the very tips will not reduce lift ability as much as taking as illustrated. A wing is for flight. And chickens sometimes don't need to be flying. I have clipped one wing before also, it throws the bird off badly.... they try to use their wings and it does not go the way they think it should. I found them able to fly better with two equally trimmed wings, but more likely to hurt themselves if you only clip one. I think it is perfectly acceptable to trim a birds wings.... but I would wait to see if they are escaping first.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Because,,,ok IMHO clipping more than about 3/4 of an inch is cruelty. One should only take a bit of the light feather tips from only one wing, this will stop flight. The entire purpous is to set the bird off balance while in flight. It will not stop jumping nor will taking their wings off stop jumping.
If my birds go out in the street, I grade part of the yard, they are going after the small gravel.
If they go next door, I increase feed and open more pasture.
If they go outside the yard to lay, I keep them in the coop for random amounts of time for a week or so to reset them.

Bottom line is if they are going over the fence there is a problem and it is not because they have feathers on their wing/s!

I humbly disagree with you. The problem is some birds are more curious than others or more serious about hiding their nest regardless of how much space, gravel, or feed I provide... and they teach their bad habits. Yes they can still jump... but it takes a LOT of their lift out.

CLOSE BILATERAL clipping WAS effective... for me. I tried the whole off balance thing (since I bought it at first) and it was a complete JOKE! Repeated with bilateral on ONLY those who needed it and it was IMMEDIATELY effective... with my 48" fence... with my Marans and my Easter Eggers... the later of which have been exceptional jumpers clearing 10 feet from a standing position.

NO WAY is keeping my birds INSIDE my fence where they aren't subjected to random domestic ground predators cruel.

@centrarchid, even though I already know where I stand... after plenty of experience with the different types of clipping and many breeds... Great experiment/study, thanks for sharing!

 

[KentuckyRooster]

I used to clip both wings close and tight on a couple of very naughty bantams who could fly over anything (I have 6 foot fences and they ranged my yard..Kept finding the lil bums in the neighbors yard)

Now they all live inside and only go out a little bit. I'm sure my game birds can clear my fence but I'm not clipping anybody now, the game birds aren't going anywhere they're basically dogs and my seramas aren't able to fly over even if they wanted to.

I don't believe in it for parrots who depend on flight, but I don't see the problem for ground dwellers. It keeps them safe.

 

[RWise]

And each is welcome to their opinion, I keep my birds happy and they stay home.

Some time back I was gifted a hen with her poor wings clipped to nothing, like a guy with hairy arms. (how much lift there?) She walked up in the drive while I was purchasing a pullet, the guy said (you can have her") and I took her. Once she was through the waiting period I put her (and the other) in the flock, and watched for some time.
She acted like she was having problems seeing, so I walk over (she was very docile) and pick her up. Looking at her eyes, her feathers had grown over them. I clipped them away from her eyes, and sat her down. As soon as she was on the ground her head was up high and she was looking all around, She spotted the big pretty rooster that she had been running from, and ran yes ran straight to him and squatted. This bird never went over my 4 foot fences, yet she was often in a tree with the lowest limb 8 feet up right next to the fence. Once she molted and all her feathers were back she was luvly!
Her problem was she could not see well, not that she had wing feathers. I did have to repeat the eye feather clipping from time to time,,,

Clipping only one wing lightly is enuf to stop flight, all one needs to do is make them off balance. I myself will never ever clip any more than that 1/2" to 3/4" from only 1 wing!

 

[centrarchid]

@RWise, few if any will be able to replicate your observations in an effort to confine their flock.

 

[Ursuline Chick]

There is considerable debate on this site concerning the efficacy of wing clipping and how it is to be done. Several links can be found concerning how to clip wings with diagrams given in most. Most show only one wing being clipped. Many people assert that wing clipping is not effective at constraining chicken flight. Many also assert the clipping should be asymmetrical or unilateral where only one wing is clipped. Logic behind that approach is that that balanced wing function is more effective than symmetrical wing feathering regardless as to whether clipping is done or not. Here I report results of a backyard experiment where a group of 29 juveniles approximately 13 weeks old where subjected to one of three clipping treatments while housed in an elevated pen they are imprinted on. I do not employ fencing to contain free-ranging birds so used roosting inclination as a substitute. The pen is adjustable with respect to height birds must jump / fly to access it. Lower setting is 36" and high setting is 48". The control / not-clipped treatment was represented by 16 birds, the unilateral clip treatment was represented by 7 birds and the bilateral clip treatment was represented by 6 birds. Clipping was done in two rounds. Each clipping was done immediately after birds went to roost. The first round involved clipping only the primaries on the the right or both wings depending on treatment. Initially the pen was set at 36". Following the clipping procedure I made two evenings of observation where birds where monitored for their ability to access roost. Then roost was elevated to the 48" height for two more nights of observation. Then clipped birds where all clipped a second time where secondaries were also cut. Two more nights of observations followed.

36" pen height

48" pen height

First round of wing clipping with only primaries clipped.

Second round with both primaries and secondaries clipped. (Not same bird)

At end of each period of observation, a chair was put put to allow birds to access pen regardless of treatment to prevent roosting on ground or moving to another location. Birds became distressed if unable to access pen after a small number of attempts.
View attachment 1474970



Results of cutting only primaries failed to prevent any birds from reaching pen when set at both 36" and 48". I could still ID during jump / flight up whether a given bird was not clipped, unilaterally clipped or bilaterally clipped. Following the second clipping round with pen still at 48" height, the treatments separated out (see figure below). Trends were consistent for both days (blue is day 1 and red is day 2) following second clipping. Treatments in figure below are Control (no wing clipping), Unilateral (one wing clipped), Bilateral (both wings clipped). Ascend (A) means a bird successfully flew up into pen or better. Descend (D) means a bird flew / jumped down. Failed to Ascend (FA) means a bird attempted and failed to reach coop by some combination of jumping and flying.

View attachment 1474913
The control birds were most capable of reaching pen at both heights. Unilateral clipping including secondaries did increase frequency of failure on a given night to reach pen on a given attempt but all birds eventually made. Among the bilateral clipped birds with secondaries also cut, only one bird successfully reached pen at 48" height on second night. Thereafter, all bilateral birds required chair to access coop. Clipping both primaries and secondaries on both wings is more effective at reducing the jumping / flying ability of juvenile chickens when compared to unilateral and no clipping treatments.

A lot of work into this effort. Special thanks to several high school students and my kids for aiding in this effort.

Extremely interesting, thank you for going to the trouble to chart out your results.