Wing Clipping

[dalelavonne51]

I am brand new to having chickens. I have less than a quarter acre with a very deep back yard and live in an older neighborhood in a small town in Tennessee. I have 6 young laying hens: an Easter Egger, Ameraucana, Speckled Sussex, Partridge Rock, Cuckoo Maran and a Gold Laced Wyandotte. I could tell that the Speckled Sussex was going to be a character. She was immediately very friendly, curious, adventurous and independent. On day two of having the chickens in their new coop, I looked out the window to see the little Sussex grazing outside the coop and in the yard by herself. She had flown up and landed on the gate and jumped down into the yard. Our yard isn't completely fenced in and I am afraid, because of her adventurous spirit, that she would work her way to the front and end up in the street. She did this three times within an hour so we decided to clip her wings. Now I feel bad because I don't think she is able to get herself up on the roost. I looked in to check on her and all the others were on the roost and poor little Sussex was on the ground alone. Do I need to be concerned and will her wings grow back?

 

[gtaus]

Welcome to BYC forums.

I hope you realize that clipping the wings of a chicken refers to clipping the flight feathers, which will grow back in time. If you are afraid she cannot fly up to the roost, maybe help her out with a ramp?

There are some good YouTube videos on clipping the feathers of your chickens so they do not fly over your fencing. I was surprised to learn that you only clip one side, so the chicken cannot fly level. If you clip the feathers on both wings, they will still fly level but with greater difficulty.

 

[DobieLover]

Hello and welcome to BYC! Glad you joined.
I had to clip my chickens wings for the same reasons.
I used varying levels of clipping.
Clipping just one wing did not keep them off balance. They got over the gates just fine. They mostly jump up. Most of the flock ended up with bilateral clips of both primaries and secondaries. This fall, they will molt their wings back in and will likely not need to be clipped again as they've become accustomed to their confinement.
Install a ramp for your naughty SS to help her up to roost.
Good luck.

 

[Sequel]

Hi and welcome to the flock! Good fencing is the best policy for long term safety of your chickens. Hope you find lots of helpful ideas here, we're tickled you joined!

 

[drumstick diva]

If you can't or don't want to clip wings confine them in a run with a cover. It will also deter raptor attacks. A solid run cover can give some protection from sun/rain/snow.

 

[BlueBaby]

Hello, and welcome!

 

[fldiver97]

Welcome Good advice posted! I only clipped feathers on a few ‘adventurous’ chickens the first couple of years, it was very surprising to see my big girls go over a 5 foot fence.... they stopped trying and have not plotted any jail breaks in years. The run is fully roofed, the backyard is fenced in

 

[Pork Pie]

Welcome to BYC - you have some great advice already so I'll just say hello!
All the best

Pork Pie

 

[Fishkeeper]

I'd very much suggest enclosing them under a mesh roof. Not only does it contain your birds with no need for repeated and stressful clipping, it keeps (deadly!) hawks and other raptors out.
Also, the "coop" is the chicken house part that they sleep in at night. The part they're in during the day is the run.

 

[rjohns39]

Hi and welcome to BYC We're so happy you've decided to join us

So what part of Tennessee are you in? Stop by and visit with us on the Tennessee thread when you have time. We also have threads for east, west and middle Tennessee.