# Do you clip wings



## Shalva (Jun 21, 2012)

Do you clip wings on your chickens? I have heard that juveniles fly better than adults but if I am going to clip I do want them to get used to this when they are young... 

Over the fence of their yard is the dog yard... I really don't want them in there... and I don't want them at our neighbors who are animal haters... They must stay in the fenced yard... 

I know how to clip as I used to have a parrot... but I was wondering what the pros and cons of clipping are... these are buff orps and barred rocks.... 

any thoughts???


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## machinist (Jul 17, 2012)

I don't know of any downside to clipping wings, as long as you do it right. I had much better luck clipping if I did one wing quite short, the other not so short. It throws off their trajectory abd they get discouraged fast. 

If you have really cold winters, it might be good to be sure they stay warm, since wing feathers add a lot of insulation for them. I can't think of any other drawback. 

Thankfully, we haven't had to clip wings on our present place. We have a 6 ft. fence and only one hen ever made it over that. She was persistent about it, though.  We finally just let her do her thing. She always came home at night.


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## Lady_Alia (Jul 11, 2012)

I clip their wings. Well, one wing. I have too if I want them to stay in, especially on my brown leghorns and my D'Anver.


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## thespiralandthelotus (Jul 21, 2012)

Clip only 1 wing or they will still have enough balance to fly if you have a persistent chook. Also i have never noticed any disadvantage to clipping, i only clip the girls that need it


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## cogburn (Jul 16, 2012)

On your right handed chickens clip the left wing and vice versa, only do one wing, also it's often not necessary to do all birds, just the flighty ones.


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## Lady_Alia (Jul 11, 2012)

cogburn said:


> On your right handed chickens clip the left wing and vice versa, only do one wing, also it's often not necessary to do all birds, just the flighty ones.


How do you know if a chicken is Right winged or left winged? lol


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## Shalva (Jun 21, 2012)

Lady_Alia said:


> How do you know if a chicken is Right winged or left winged? lol


thanks for asking that...


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## PeterFromRutland (Jul 12, 2012)

machinist said:


> I don't know of any downside to clipping wings, as long as you do it right. I had much better luck clipping if I did one wing quite short, the other not so short. It throws off their trajectory abd they get discouraged fast.


Downside: foxes or any other predator. I once had one chase one of my roosters. If his wings were clipped he would have been dead.

If you don't free range them it's fine. If you do - do NOT clip!


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## rob (Jun 20, 2012)

mine wander around my garden, there is a dog next door but they seem to stay away from that fence, as yet i have had no reason to clip wings.


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## Marthab53 (Jul 23, 2012)

I always clip on the right side because I am Right Handed, Never heard of a chicken being right or left handed and I have raised chickens for over 50 years. That is a new one to me.


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## Lady_Alia (Jul 11, 2012)

Marthab53 said:


> I always clip on the right side because I am Right Handed, Never heard of a chicken being right or left handed and I have raised chickens for over 50 years. That is a new one to me.


Well of course you've never heard of them being right or left handed...they have wings! lol

Ok seriously...how are you suppose to know if a chicken is right or left winged?


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## rob (Jun 20, 2012)

how would you know if its right or left .......er.....winged lol


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## cogburn (Jul 16, 2012)

Just checkin to be sure y'all were payin attention.. Lol


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## ThreeJ (Jun 28, 2012)

rob said:


> how would you know if its right or left .......er.....winged lol


 By how they vote?????


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## Shalva (Jun 21, 2012)

threej said:


> by how they vote?????:d


ha ha ha ha


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## Roslyn (Jun 21, 2012)

I have tried wing clipping, they ran from my husband for MONTHS after he went in the coop and I caught them and he clipped, then tossed them out. They didn't hold a grudge with me, but WOW, they would run screaming when he came around!!

It didn't work, even clipping one wing the ones that wanted to fly over the 4 foot fence figured out how to fly anyway.


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## rob (Jun 20, 2012)

ThreeJ said:


> By how they vote?????


lol, fantastic answer


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## rob (Jun 20, 2012)

i think i may have to clip a few wings. my 3 chooks are 16 weeks old, today 2 flew into the tree (is this normal?) next door is a dog so i dont want them flying over the fence.
is it easy to clip wings or should i get a vet to do it ?


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## Shalva (Jun 21, 2012)

rob said:


> i think i may have to clip a few wings. my 3 chooks are 16 weeks old, today 2 flew into the tree (is this normal?) next door is a dog so i dont want them flying over the fence.
> is it easy to clip wings or should i get a vet to do it ?


no its easy to do... I used to do my parrot all the time... a pair of plain old scissors will do the trick the key is to have the chicken stay still and with that you might need help until they get used to it


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## Lady_Alia (Jul 11, 2012)

rob said:


> i think i may have to clip a few wings. my 3 chooks are 16 weeks old, today 2 flew into the tree (is this normal?) next door is a dog so i dont want them flying over the fence.
> is it easy to clip wings or should i get a vet to do it ?


It's super easy! I hold the bird against my body and tuck its head under my left elbow. Extend the wing with my left hand and clip with my right. 
On the extra spunky birds I'll sit down and turn them on their backs and extend their wing. 
I actually find it harder to clip their wings when someone is "helping" me. 
Have you ever clipped a cats nails?


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## rob (Jun 20, 2012)

cheers both, i will give it a go today.


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## Lady_Alia (Jul 11, 2012)

rob said:


> cheers both, i will give it a go today.


How'd it go Rob?


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## rob (Jun 20, 2012)

Lady_Alia said:


> How'd it go Rob?


i was more scared than the birds lol. it went very well thanks. well realy it went as follows.
5 mins chasing them round the garden. they must have a sixth sense as they normaly come to me.
then several minutes trying to hold bird scissors and wing !
finaly got comfy and clipped firs birds wing, and it was easy! no prob at all.
funny though im sure they all sulking now.


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## Lady_Alia (Jul 11, 2012)

rob said:


> i was more scared than the birds lol. it went very well thanks. well realy it went as follows.
> 5 mins chasing them round the garden. they must have a sixth sense as they normaly come to me.
> then several minutes trying to hold bird scissors and wing !
> finaly got comfy and clipped firs birds wing, and it was easy! no prob at all.
> funny though im sure they all sulking now.


Ohhh I'm sure they are too! My Hawkie Belle will sulk for days after a clipping! lol

Good job though. I was terrified the first time I did it.


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## cogburn (Jul 16, 2012)

Saw this in a book.. Thought it was a good illustration.


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## vandj (Jun 21, 2012)

I wait until they go in at night and it only takes about 5 min to do all of them. I don't cut quite as much as the photo, about 2" on one wing is enough to keep them off balance and once they figure out they don't fly as usual they quit trying. Mine have a 4' climb up into their house and need enough balance to get up in windy weather. If I didn't BBQ and have friends over I wouldn't cut them at all. But chickens are little fun at a cook out.


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## rob (Jun 20, 2012)

well they still seem to be sulking and avoided me. untill they saw the bag of mealworms !


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