Wing clipping?

[Kilgharrah]

So I live in a residential area and I don't want my girls wondering the streets but I don't want to clip their wings because I feel like it makes me a bad person.....what should I do


Also I feel like I'm posting to many questions lol

 

[chickengeorgeto]

Then you must build a secure run or coop to confine your flock in health, comfort, and safety. The biggest problem I ever encountered with hens with clipped wings was them climbing up small trees, bushes or leaning structures to get to the top of the fence and then hopping down on the other side. When this happens your bird will likely be stranded with no way to get home.

 

[Kilgharrah]

I don't have the money for a new coop/run and Im not handy when it comes to building.... I have a 6 foot iron fences I put chicken wire to keep them from escaping through the fence....

 

[Wolfgang B.]

Also I feel like I'm posting to many questions lol

You're not at all! Ask away.

Nothing wrong with clipping your chickens' wings (one side only). Not everybody has the opprtunity to build a high security prison for their hens lol. Mine ran up a 7 feet high fence or flew on a high tree to escape on the garage roof.
Since we clipped their wings they live a happy chicken life on the ground.

 

[Riley Ranch]

So I live in a residential area and I don't want my girls wondering the streets but I don't want to clip their wings because I feel like it makes me a bad person.....what should I do


Also I feel like I'm posting to many questions lol

When I got my chickens. I clipped them all. I found I had to keep doing it. It didn't matter one or two always found the greener grass. I just stopped when someone told me it was easier for them to escape hawk attacks if they could fly a bit. So I embraced 20 plus chickens free ranging. They seem so happy. They always come home to roost. I count them every day. Still worry me. But I love waking up to chickens in the yard.

 

[Laylaloveschickens]

Just watch the blood feather. Don't cut too short. first time clipping I made this mistake. There are plenty of YouTube videos you can check out before you give it a go

 

[rosemarythyme]

Clipping feathers is a bit like a haircut... as long as you don't cut too far in it doesn't bother the birds any. It does need to be maintained as new feathers grow in.

Depending on the breeds of birds a 6' fence might be enough to encourage them to stay in. Mine can fly over but they haven't tried to do so in months so I'm fine with leaving them unclipped, but I know not everyone has the luxury of waiting to see if they'll escape.

 

[lazy gardener]

If your birds are less than a year old, definitely clip them. A younger bird is a better flyer (usually) in her first year than she will be when she's a bit more mature, and a bit heavier. Sometimes, by intervening early, it sets up a life time habit of good fence behavior. (Kind of like the baby elephant tethered by a thin rope. He can't break free when he's a baby, so never tries to when he becomes an adult. The same thin rope will contain the adult that was trained as a baby.)

IMO, any bird that is at greater risk by flying over a fence than she would be by being contained within the fence should be clipped.