Chickens-to clip or not to clip
 

I have a 6ft wood fence around the chicken pen, 30x35, no netting over the top.

I have RIR, Australorp, and Buff Orphingtons.

Should I be worried about the chickens being able to fly out? They are 15 weeks old now, and so far none have shown the ability to fly more than about 4 ft off the ground.

So the question is, should I pre-emptively clip their wings, or just let it go?

If they did make it out, they would immediately by lunch for the hounds.

I have heard that as they get older the chances of them flying that high are less, and that the heavier breeds such as mine really don't fly high anyways.

I have received LOTS of conflicting info, any opinions by chicken owners would be appreciated.

Re: Chickens-to clip or not to clip
 

When I was a lot younger, and my family had chickens, we would usually clip the flight feathers on one side. That kept the chickens from flying away, but they had no trouble getting up to their perches a few feet off the ground.

Re: Chickens-to clip or not to clip
 

When I was a kid I would go out with my dad on the 4-wheeler to the pasture. He had this tool that stretched a rubber band out so you could put it on young cow's testicles. Once it was on the testicles eventually fell off.

Sorry...

What was the question?

Re: Chickens-to clip or not to clip
 

my dad threatned to use one of those on me when i stayed out to late chasin gals in my late teen years....never slept too soundly after that


PS i would follow someone else's advice

Re: Chickens-to clip or not to clip
 

Those do tend to make the young bulls a bit hyperactive...... in the begining anyways

Re: Chickens-to clip or not to clip
 

Uhhh.....
I'm out of here.

Re: Chickens-to clip or not to clip
 

Re: Chickens-to clip or not to clip
 

hey Techguy
It can't hurt to clip one wing, just to be safe.

we only have clipped the ones that fly out
but our fence is five ft.
only a few, out of many, fly out.

Re: Chickens-to clip or not to clip
 

We have lots of hawks and we figured we would loose some that way.
The hawks sit in the tree over our pond and got a few koi
I don't think we have lost any chickens to them
at least that we know of.(none of our favorites anyway)
We have lost quite a few to coyotes and bobcats though.

Good thing they Lay an egg every day.
Easy to replace em when need be.


Edit and we do lock them up a night.
so that helps keep them safe from the coons and possum

Re: Chickens-to clip or not to clip
 

Clipping is the way to go for a number of reasons. Our chickens are just about 2 to 3 weeks older than yours. A few of them can fly over the 6 foot fence if they try. We clip them and still have a few that manage to get over the one lower section due to the grade of their lot. They are Leghorns chickens. After they fly out and they go back in at night except for one chicken that appears to be not the sharpest tools in the shed. I added 2 extra feet of fence to the section they could clear today, we will see if that works.

The other reason to clip them is if they do get out for any reason they can not fly and roost beyond your reach.

In short clipping is the way to go, just be careful not to cut too much and get into the quick and cause bleeding. They bleed very freely when cut in the quick.

On the same subject we are getting 11 eggs a day from our 11 chickens!

Re: Chickens-to clip or not to clip
 

We lock ours up every night too. We have red tail hawks and cara cara (which are AWESOME) around, so far no problem, the hawks are smaller than the chickens at this point.

I guess we will try clipping this weekend.

Re: Chickens-to clip or not to clip
 

If you feed the chickens every night before you lock them up, they arent going to fly away whether they have feathers or not.

Like other people have said, you are going to lose way more chickens to animal predators then every having to worry about them flying away and leaving for good.

Re: Chickens-to clip or not to clip
 

We clipped them last weekend. Took them out of the coop early in the morning one at a time and did the deed.

Interesting that the australorps had MUCH tougher feathers than did the orphingtons.

We have dogs the prevent most daytime predators, and they are always put away at night. We also leave food and water IN the coop and pull the feed from outside every night.

Re: Chickens-to clip or not to clip
 

You had cows with testicles? Did you ever milk your bulls? :111::111:

Re: Chickens-to clip or not to clip
 

I keep letting my hens out hoping a hawk might take a dozen before winter. Da girls are wiley, though. And they've got a good rooster.
I'm looking to clip them, just in a different way.....

Re: Chickens-to clip or not to clip
 

A good rooster seems to make all the difference.

Our rooster is the first out in the morning and immediately chastises a hen if he thinks she is out of line. He shepherds them all in every night.

Re: Chickens-to clip or not to clip
 

Techguy you really need a top on your pen.

I had a giant Leghorn rooster, but a hawk swooped down and snagged him with me only 30ish yards away. I saw and heard the commotion (I was working in front of my shop, chickens were free ranging outside the pen), but by the time I ran over there he was headless. And yes, he was quite a bit heavier than the red tailed hawk who got him.

Oh well, I hated that rooster anyway.:biggrin: