Wing clipping...

[Ladybirds9]

I have several chickens who just go in and out of the chicken yard as they please. There is not much danger from predators in the daytime at least, but I'm tired of having to catch them and they do get into the neighbor's yard quite a bit. We have a 5 foot fence but for the white leghorns and ameracaunas it might as well not be there. So I'm getting ready to clip wings.
Any tips or suggestions would be welcome.
They'll still be able to get up 2-4 feet to roost, right?

 

[SkyWarrior]

Quote:
Most people clip the 10 or so long feathers on one wing. I've clipped both sides if they're still getting over the fence. And yes, they can get to roosts just fine.

 

[Quailbuddy]

they should be fine getting up to the roost. . . but if they look like there having troubles you can always put something near they can climb/hop on to get up

Clip only one wing, if you clip to its just like not clipping at all. When you clip one wing it unbalnces them slightly so when they (try to ) fly the end up leaning to one side and not getting up high. . good luck

 

[SkyWarrior]

Quote:
Sorry to disagree with you, but that's not true about clipping both wings. What happens when you clip a wing is that you remove/reduce the size of the airfoil, which means that the bird cannot achieve lift. (Basic aerodynamics here -- I was a rocket scientist!) By clipping two wings, the surface area of the airfoil is reduced and the surface area to mass is greatly decreased, thus affecting lift. I've had some birds fly to the top of a 6 foot pen to roost with one wing clipped. I clipped both and, voila, I don't have them doing that.

 

[lakeman]

Quote:
Sorry to disagree with you, but that's not true about clipping both wings. What happens when you clip a wing is that you remove/reduce the size of the airfoil, which means that the bird cannot achieve lift. (Basic aerodynamics here -- I was a rocket scientist!) By clipping two wings, the surface area of the airfoil is reduced and the surface area to mass is greatly decreased, thus affecting lift. I've had some birds fly to the top of a 6 foot pen to roost with one wing clipped. I clipped both and, voila, I don't have them doing that.

?????
You are wrong!!!! you should just clip one wing

 

[Marshmallow Man]

Okay somebody do an independent test. I heard 1 wing only before. Skywarrior makes good sense too. I can see where less surface area would effect ability to get off the ground.

 

[grandads]

I have been clipping one wing and the tail and they still fly out. I'm going to try clipping both wings! tired of rounding up chickens in this heat. Thanks SkyWarrior

 

[AinaWGSD]

I honestly do not understand the theory that you should only clip one wing. I work for an avian vet and they ALWAYS clip BOTH wings on birds. If your bird is still able to fly with both wings clipped, it's because you did not cut the appropriate number of flight feathers for a bird of that size/flight ability. If anything, clipping both wings is better because it not only removes the lift that they get from the flight feathers but it does not unbalance them so that they crash into the ground (or walls, or ceilings, etc) when they do try to fly. I've seen some pretty nasty injuries that resulted from birds being off balance due to only having one wing clipped. There's no reason on this Earth to believe that just because chickens are a different species than most of the pet birds we see at work that clipping both wings on a chicken would affect their flight any differently. The basic mechanics of flight generally don't change from species to species. I suspect that clipping only one wing is a result of chickens and other poultry being so closely associated with ornamental waterfowl and other birds that were traditionally pinioned (cutting off the tip of the wing) to prevent flight rather than because of any actual physical advantage. It was tradition, people have always done it that way so that's what people do. If/when it comes time for me to clip my chickens' wings I will be clipping both wings.

 

[lakeman]

Wrong, wrong, wrong you clip one wing, and not just some feathers, but all of them. Chickens do not use aerodynamcs to fly over the fence, but only to glide down the other side. A chicken uses pure power, to get up (like a rocket, no aerodynamic lift, pure thrusting power). Clipping both wings does not stop flying, only decreases thrust, and airfoil, making it harder and more ineffecient. You clip one wing to destabilize the bird so it cannot control its flight. If you only have a 5 foot fence, that is why they can fly out with a single wing clipped, you need a higher fence.

 

[moondog425]

Quote:
Sorry to disagree with you, but that's not true about clipping both wings. What happens when you clip a wing is that you remove/reduce the size of the airfoil, which means that the bird cannot achieve lift. (Basic aerodynamics here -- I was a rocket scientist!) By clipping two wings, the surface area of the airfoil is reduced and the surface area to mass is greatly decreased, thus affecting lift. I've had some birds fly to the top of a 6 foot pen to roost with one wing clipped. I clipped both and, voila, I don't have them doing that.

?????
You are wrong!!!! you should just clip one wing

I clip both and it works great.......!