To Clip or Not to Clip

[Whovian007]

That is the question

I'm new to raising chicks - we got our 40 babies - originally 43, but sadly we lost 3 in the first three days...very hard on this first time raiser (my husband had to handle a crying wife after the third one died and hadn't a clue why) We figured out with help from the forum that it was stress and we started probiotics in their water and thankfully the rest are doing great!
But I digress. The babies are about 3 weeks old now, and they are feathering, and starting to fly. A lot.

Which is super cute. They have their own room, but we've divided the room in half using boards to make about a 4 foot tall wall. The little scamps are flying and sitting on the top of that wall, so far they haven't decided to explore the other side of the room, when I caught them doing it they just flew back down into their designated area, but I'm afraid they're going to get a bit more confident and decide to see what the other side looks like. And where that isn't the worse problem in the world, I'm also afraid though they can fly that high they'll get to the other side and not be able to get back. And do that when I'm not home.

We almost have their coop/run ready so maybe that will solve everything, but I think I'm digressing again...

sorry 'bout that. my question for all of you is about clipping wings. What are the pros/cons, personal opinions, and when and how do you actually do it?

 

[Eggcessive]

Please don't clip wings. It doesn't help at all, then you find out it ruins their looks of their wings until they molt at 18 months. I did 1 wing on some of mine when I first got chicks that were older and flying over my 4 ft. chainlink fence. They can still fly just fine, so you are wasting your time, even clipping just 1 wing to "throw them off balance." Just staple up some plastic netting or plastic chicken wire. If they can't perch on the top, it is harder to fly over--for instance if the fencing is flimsy as opposed to rigid on top.

 

[nettifer]

That is the question

I'm new to raising chicks - we got our 40 babies - originally 43, but sadly we lost 3 in the first three days...very hard on this first time raiser (my husband had to handle a crying wife after the third one died and hadn't a clue why) We figured out with help from the forum that it was stress and we started probiotics in their water and thankfully the rest are doing great!
But I digress. The babies are about 3 weeks old now, and they are feathering, and starting to fly. A lot.

Which is super cute. They have their own room, but we've divided the room in half using boards to make about a 4 foot tall wall. The little scamps are flying and sitting on the top of that wall, so far they haven't decided to explore the other side of the room, when I caught them doing it they just flew back down into their designated area, but I'm afraid they're going to get a bit more confident and decide to see what the other side looks like. And where that isn't the worse problem in the world, I'm also afraid though they can fly that high they'll get to the other side and not be able to get back. And do that when I'm not home.

We almost have their coop/run ready so maybe that will solve everything, but I think I'm digressing again...

sorry 'bout that. my question for all of you is about clipping wings. What are the pros/cons, personal opinions, and when and how do you actually do it?

i wouldnt clip their wings! i have free range chickens and never clipped them !

 

[yyz0yyz0]

I'm not responding yay or nay on the clipping, only answering the "how" question.

When clipping wings on house birds, parakeets, parrots, etc etc: You pull a wing out and the rows of feathers are layered like roofing shingles. you take the lowest row and clip them up to the next row of feathers. As stated above this is only a temporary fix, they will build up their strength and still be able to fly after a little time with the reduced feather area.

You don't want to cut up too high as you will get into the "live" part that will bleed.

again I'm not advocating for clipping their wings, just commenting on the physics of how.