Pullet flies

[Crazy_Beautiful]

I have a pullet born in May that can FLY!
She easily clears my 8 foot fence.
I feeling like it's time to clip wings as much as I hate that... its best to keep her safe.
Is she old enough to do this?
Will she grow out of this flying out as she ages?

 

[Shadrach]

I have a pullet born in May that can FLY!
She easily clears my 8 foot fence.
I feeling like it's time to clip wings as much as I hate that... its best to keep her safe.
Is she old enough to do this?
Will she grow out of this flying out as she ages?

What breed is she?

 

[Crazy_Beautiful]

She's a mix... looks like EE mixed with Legbar. She's on the smaller side compared to my other pullets her age

 

[Chick-n-lily]

I have 4 golden laced Wyandottes and they love flying from their roost to the window ledge and then down into the screen room. It’s a sight for sure. I have an enclosed run. I’m guessing your little one likes to fly so clipping wings may be in her future

 

[3KillerBs]

I feeling like it's time to clip wings as much as I hate that... its best to keep her safe.
Is she old enough to do this?
Will she grow out of this flying out as she ages?

Clipping wings is a perfectly safe procedure that can be done at any age when the feathers are fully grown in.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/wing-clipping.76982/

The key thing is to not cut any blood feathers -- the still growing feathers that have blood in their shafts. IF you accidentally cut one, you need to pluck it out and apply pressure to stop the bleeding. It is unlikely to stop bleeding if not plucked.

Sometimes mature chickens of large breeds get too heavy to fly, but a small, light bird is unlikely to stop being able to. My best flyer did seem to forget that she could fly after her first molt -- but maybe just settled down and didn't feel the need to fly so much anymore.

IMO, the worst offenders in re: flying out of the pen are POL pullets. Once they're through the hormonal stage and laying regularly they seem to be more content in their run.

 

[SourRoses]

Following the article @3KillerBs linked, we clipped our fliers last week.
The 8 Leghorns were easy to do, their Coverts were smaller and spaced out.
Our Mosaic rooster was SO hard to do. Black feathers and he seemed to have extra Coverts on top and underneath, well they were really packed in there densely. I had to hunt through them for every single shaft of Primary feathers.

It was a limited success. They can still fly where they want to, but they seem less inclined. We have only had to retrieve Leghorns from the wrong pens a few times this week rather than multiple times a day.
And the Mosaic was determined to follow a few Leggies he considered "his" no matter what, into the pen of a rooster who didn't appreciate his unannounced visits. So, we had to cage him until we get done with this new coop build.

 

[3KillerBs]

And the Mosaic was determined to follow a few Leggies he considered "his" no matter what, into the pen of a rooster who didn't appreciate his unannounced visits.

Last year I had a cockerel who was so lightly-built and poor type that he was managing to fly with all of the primaries on both wings cut.

Fortunately, Ludwig was a tolerant rooster.

 

[raingarden]

I want my chickens to be good flyers and even encourage them by throwing scratch on the roof where they have to fly up to get it. They're going to go where they want anyway and being good flyers will help them escape dogs and such.

 

[Crazy_Beautiful]

I don't mind if I'm home. But one day this week we got home just at dusk... Kids Sports every night. My neighbour was in my yard putting my pullet to bed as she was panicking trying to get back in just running into the fence. They seem to know how to fly out but not back in.

 

[3KillerBs]

I don't mind if I'm home. But one day this week we got home just at dusk... Kids Sports every night. My neighbour was in my yard putting my pullet to bed as she was panicking trying to get back in just running into the fence. They seem to know how to fly out but not back in.

Of about 60 or so chickens so far, I've had only 1 that understood how to fly back into a run she flew out of.