Can i clip my chickens wings

Help Me! OR: Search by Category. See Also: How do I get my flock to go into their coop at night so I can shut the door and make sure they're safe? Should I free range my chickens?

What is molting? Related Items:. Egg Cleanser Concentrate, 16 oz In Stock. Poultry Waterer, 2 sizes In Stock. Lulu is one of my Red Stars , and she's lucky to be alive. She flew over our six foot fence, straight into the mouth of a neighbour's dog. Yes it's true - the dog shouldn't have been on my land. But it was - and I'd rather have chickens with clipped wings than no chickens.

For me, this was a trial and error thing. Most information you'll read will say cut only one wing. This makes the bird unbalanced and she or he won't be able to fly. When I did that, my Red Stars quickly learned how to adapt. Now, maybe my girls are particularly intelligent I know they are. So we removed anything that might have been helping them to get over, including a compost heap, a log pile and the lower branches of a tree - and they still got over.

These are determined chickens! The fact is that if you clip one wing and they're still flying into danger, there's not much choice. You'll need to clip the other wing as well. Red Stars are particularly good escape artists.

All mine had to have both wings clipped. None has escaped since I did that, and they're none the worse for it. In fact, they're better off, since none of them has escaped slap bang into the mouth of a waiting neighbour's dog. It's easy - once you get over your own "does it hurt my chickens? So let's deal with that now.

Clipping wings does not hurt your birds as long as you do it properly. And it's not hard to do it properly. It's like cutting your own hair. Or think of it as cutting your nails. The quill you cut through is white because it has no blood supply and no nerves. So there's no feeling in it, just like your nails. And once the wing is clipped it doesn't even look any different, since it's folded under the remaining wing feathers.

So your girls won't be in the least bit embarrassed. If you purchase a product through links on this page, I receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. I only recommend products I have purchased or would purchase myself and which I believe would benefit you. To learn more please see my disclosure policy. You're aiming to cut only the long primary flight feathers on the wing. It's easy to find them.

They're longer than any of the other feathers and there are usually ten of them. Holding your chicken firmly but kindly! Knowledge of how this poultry practice is done is important as well. You need to know how to handle your chickens in preparation for wing clipping. The preparation entails getting hold of your birds, handling them as required and executing wing clipping without injuring them.

With all these factors at the back of your mind, you can easily perform wing clipping in a matter of minutes.

But you will need the right materials and maybe some help from someone else. Materials A towel but it is optional Clean pair of scissors Pair of pliers for safety Gauze or rag Corn starch With these materials ready, you should be able to clip the wings of your free-range birds. Here are the steps to follow:. The practice is not necessary for every free-ranging bird unless one or a few of them are flying out of their free-range zone.