Clipping Serama wings

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Poppy7

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My 3 Serama girls are getting more adventurous and flying on top and over our 6 foot fence! Rascals!

I think its a good idea for me to clip a wing on each of them. I feel quite sad doing this as their wings are beautiful and clipping would be noticeable on a Serama unlike other breeds where you don't notice it so much.

So, should you clip them in the same way as any other breed (clipping the first 10 longer feathers?)?

Thanks.
 
I'd try trimming half the length of the secondary feathers on one wing first Poppy, that's the inner wing section. Less noticeable and may be enough to imbalance them. Like you, I hate doing it as it upsets them and removes their defence mechanism.
 
Just have a think before you do this, Poppy. They are still only three months old, and a very small breed. If they are out loose in the garden they will be tempting to any local cats, let alone foxes of course. If they are left unclipped at least they have a chance to escape if hunted. Better still, get a moveable rabbit run and put them in that if you still have any grass left. They will be able to nibble the grass and you can easily move it on every two or three days, knowing they are safe in there. When I've done this with young growers, I found it was a bit of a pain catching them every morning to transport to the grass run, and back again at night, but they did get really well used to being picked up and handled, which has stood me, and them, in good stead ever since.
Like you, I'm averse to clipping wings, especially on a decorative breed like Seramas. I did it once on some hybrids and found that, when the time came for them to moult, the clipped feathers just would not shed and stumps remained. I don't know whether Seramas will settle down when grown and n lay, and used to what they will think of as 'their garden,' but certainly larger hens seem to grow out of the urge to fly over the boundary like the youngsters do.
 
I don't think in general it is recommended to free range seramas, mainly because of their size they are targets not just for any local cats but also crows and magpies. Part of a seramas beauty is also in their carriage, and the wing set, so it would be a shame I guess to have to clip them.
 
Another possible predator is a sparrow hawk. We have them here, and often they just whip through the garden and carry off sparrows and also birds up to collared dove size, so I would think a Serama would be a tasty snack!
Last year, a sparrow hawk killed a collared dove and sat at the side of the pond plucking and eating it in front of us. Would have hated to watch it do that to any of my chickens!
 
Can you not pin something like small branches or netting threaded through garden canes to raise the height of the fence until the learn not to fly out. I have pekins and their only defence is being able to fly if they are attached. Mildred was only saved from a sparrowhawk attack some time ago because she had the ability to 'bounce' sideways quickly. Chickens only have one defence, don't take it away from them unless you really have to :)
 
You may find as they come to laying age they lose their flightiness Poppy. Their body weight increases with the eggs in process and the extra food intake and they just can't fly as high. I didn't realise on my last post they were only 3 months old.
 
Thanks guys!!! As always, lots of brilliant responses.

You'll all be very pleased to hear that I haven't clipped my Serama's wings and I've overcome the problem :-)17

Tonight whilst browsing my local Gumtree I found a chicken coop that was only 4 months old and big enough to house at least 4 regular bantams! It needed a clean but at the bargain price of £60 I couldn't leave it there. It's absolutely perfect. It has a raised sleeping area with a run underneath, separate nesting boxes, removable floor to clean with a liner and even a window to open and shut for them! It was only 5 minutes drive up the road from me so I phoned the seller and collected it within the hour.

I'm very pleased. This means my Seramas are safe from all predators AND they get to keep their beautiful wings. :-)08
 
Good news! :)

I used to breed Rosecomb bantams years ago and the young ones would fly in formation round the garden!

Every now and again the formation flew up and over the boundary wall, one one or two wouldn't make it back and had to be rescued! :D
 
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