Help With Wing Clipping?

Posted by Kelly Stephens on June 15, 2012 at 12:39pm

Our 4 hens are now 5 months old and have begun laying, hooray! We'd like to allow them some daily free-range time within the area immediately outside the coop but as beginners we are not confident in our ability to clip their wings, or 1 wing per hen, on our own. If anyone who lives near the vicinity of 24th Street and Osborn might be willing to stop by sometime to assist us with wing clipping we would be extremely grateful for the help. I presume that we could exchange contact info outside of the Discussion forum to make mutually convenient arrangements. Thank you!

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Replies

  • Catherine, The Herb Lady June 15, 2012 at 4:40pm

    Kelly by all means check out the link Fran provided.  I always clipped one wing because the effect is to keep them off balance when they tried to launch themselves.

    • Frances Keltner > Catherine, The Herb Lady June 15, 2012 at 4:59pm
      Next time I will try a single wing also, but they are little escape artists! One of my girls decided our nesting boxes were not good enough to lay her first egg in so she escaped and laid it in the more luxurious cathouse! Thank goodness escaping just means out of their enclosure and into the backyard.
    • Catherine, The Herb Lady > Frances Keltner June 15, 2012 at 5:23pm

      Good thing the the cat was either not home or smaller than your girls!

    • Frances Keltner > Catherine, The Herb Lady June 15, 2012 at 8:25pm
      They have already ganged up on him and so far he has not shown anymore interest, lol. They are a gang of thugs! Taking over a portion of his yard and now his house!
  • Frances Keltner June 15, 2012 at 3:01pm
    Hi Kelly,

    Sorry I don't live near enough you to help, but look clipping chicken wings on YouTube and I'm sure you will find something instructional. I clipped both wings on all my girls and they can still launch themselves over our 4 ft enclosure! I read wing clipping is more helpful when they are more mature and heavier. Here is an instructional site http://www.poultryhelp.com/wingclipping.html.

    Good luck
    Fran
    Clipping Wings to Prevent Flight
    Raising pure bred chickens, bantams, guinea fowl and quail in Central Texas. Our primary product is fertile hatching eggs. We sometimes have chicks…
    • Donna Bruce > Frances Keltner June 15, 2012 at 4:24pm

      Thank you for the link Fran. I have always clipped only one wing. But I did not know what i was doing. My poor girls look deformed. Their left wing always looks scalped. It is hilarious to watch after the first clipping though. They even walk in circles the first time. There are no flights scheduled from my backyard:)

      Donna

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