Should I clip my hens wings?

[Miss mooshka]

I have two beautiful black marans. I let them free range only few hours a day when I’m outside. Otherwise they are locked away in run and coop at night. They have never shown they wanted to fly over the fence. They are 24 weeks. Is it necessary ?

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

It's only necessary if you need them to stop flying over a fence or a similar situation. Otherwise I would never clip wings, especially on birds that free range.

 

[Miss mooshka]

My kids were afraid they’d “sneak away”. But they r pretty good about staying close by

 

[LizzzyJo]

There’s a bit of an issue with free rangers and their ability to fly from danger. Sort of like a declawed cat trying to live outdoors. If they’re always supervised then maybe in the future if the fence jumping becomes a problem. Keep food in the yard and it may not be an issue.
I like to scatter black oil sunflower seeds (BOSS) for them to find in the yard. You could use anything. Show them that they have no need to leave.

 

[Wyatt_payne9]

Probably not, unless you watch them the whole time they’re free ranging, if not leave them because if they get attacked they could fly into high places