Trimming wings

[FreddyC]

How old do my Turkeys need to be before I trim their wings to keep them from flying? Thanks.

 

[Stacykins]

I start trimming a wing at a week or two old, once the flight feathers are starting to develop well. I only trim a single wing. Why? They can actually fly with enough effort when both wings are evenly clipped. Turkeys are powerful and can generate enough oomph for flight. With a single wing clipped, they are completely lopsided. A flight attempt leads to a spin and crash. They quickly learn to not attempt to fly, because it ends badly.

 

[brittanimck]

I prefer a bilateral wing clip mostly for bird ego, but never before 4 weeks. Turkey's ARE powerful, but that power is very much a part of them unless you clip their wings ENTIRELY, not just flight feathers. Still is hard for me to do that, so I wait, keep them happy, and only clip flight feathers.