To clip or not to clip?

[Pony Girl]

My next pressing question is - should I clip my bantams' wings?

It's only really a problem with our partridge bantam, Flo. She's naturally more nervy than the others, and is liable to take off when she panics. She doesn't usually go very high but I worry that she might disappear over the fence with a bit of upward thrust in high winds! Last week when we had the snow she ended up on top of our 6ft garden fence.

However, when I rang the vet for advice, I was asked 'why would want to get them clipped, seeing as they're flightless birds'!! They also said they'd be reluctant to do it as it can lead to feather pecking.

I read on the internet that you should only clip the flight feathers of one wing.

What are people's views/experiences of this subject?

 

[Anonymous]

Hi Pony Girl,
I clipped the right wings on my ex-batts when I first got them.It hasn't caused any feather pecking,my pekin hen is the worst flier I've got.she manages a foot off the ground for short distances only.My pekin cockerel has never tried to fly,he walks everywhere sedately.
I would try and get her to not be so nervous around you,when I first got my 2 pekins they were 6 months old and never been handled,they are a lot calmer and friendlier now,just by me picking them up daily and handling them.Finishing by sitting them on my lap for a few mins of stroking.
Personally,I would leave their wings alone,so that if ever a cat or stray dog manages to get into your garden they can fly to safety and out of reach.
It is personal choice though,and depends on what your circumstances/their living quarters etc are like.If you do decide to do it,it shouldn't cause them any problems or stress.
On the site is an excellent diagram drawn by Tim,showing how to clip a wing correctly with a sharp pair of scissors.

 

[Tim]

Hmmm sounds like your vet doesn't keep chickens!

All of my birds are behind a chest high fence. This includes Guinea Fowl. Birds that escape get one wing (just one as Lydia says) clipped when I catch them to put them back in. The Guineas without a wing clipped will roost on the roof of the house or in a very tall tree. With a wing clipped, they don't escape and go into their house...

Chickens usually don't try to get out once settled and have a wing clipped and I would never suggest clipping the wing if it wasn't necessary, however if one of your girls is flying high, it is safer for her to have her wing clipped and be contained than get out and get into trouble or lost...

When clipping a wing, you are cutting the primary flight feathers on one side to stop them flying (not both, you need to unbalance them). You need to check the feathers are not full of blood first = look on the underside of the wing and check the 'quills' are not dark, full of blood / growing. This is unlikely at this time of year though - more likely during a moult in the Autumn. You are not hurting them. They need to be clipped again after a moult in the Autumn when their feathers will regrow.

I have never seen feather pecking caused by wing clipping and I have had over 200 birds for a number of years and kept chickens all of my life. I could understand pecking if there is bleeding, if a growing feather is cut for example.

There is an article on Clipping a Chickens Wing on the main site.

Hope this helps..

 

[Lucylou]

Hi Ponygirl,

I had to clip the wings of my previous little flock, having had little escapades e.g the bantam escaped into next doors garden & eventually tried to roost in her holly tree! I decided it was the best thing. I only had to clip the bantam & the 2 young RIR. It did the trick. Very simple & easy to do, no need for a Vet as long as common sense & care is taken.

 

[Anonymous]

It's certainly easier than clipping a dogs nails .

 

[Pony Girl]

Yeah, my cat's a pain to get her claws clipped so can't be worse than that!! :lol:

I think I'll trying handling them more, and see if that helps. It's only really Flo that's the problem, and she's only actually got up as high as the top of the fence once, and just looked so surprised at having got up there, that I don't think she'll make a regular thing of it.

I do need to get them used to be handled more. Is there a good way of going about this? Mabel and Phantom happily eat out of my hand and follow me around the garden and Flo will eat out of my hand too, but is much shyer None of them particularly like being picked up though and will try and run away, rather than stand to be picked up, which makes me feel mean!

 

[Anonymous]

hi Pony Girl,I think it might be a good idea to just clip Flo's wing,either one will do.As she has got up to the top of your fence once,she could well do it again.
When I got my pekins at 6 months old,they hadn't been handled,but I was forewarned this by the lad who hatched them.
The hen bird was the worst,if I picked her up she pecked non stop quite ferociously,it didn't really hurt though and I usually laughed at her.The cockerel never pecked but he'd squawk and wriggle and be very offended :lol: .
I took to picking them up on a daily basis,giving them a quick examination and then sitting them on my knee.Mine come in my back door for company,so it was easy to shut the door and then pick them up.
If yours do not come into your house,when you go to let them out in the morning,open the door,get one out shutting the door behind her,make a fuss and give her a quick cuddle and then put her down and get the next one.
They will very quickly get used to this new routine,and start to enjoy the fuss.With my Sablepoots,when I'm holding one,the other two yell 'cos they want to be fussed and are jealous.It is the only time they sound cross,yelling and having a tantrum .

 

[Tim]

With my growers, to get them used to hands, I open the door of the house in the morning, give them a little stroke, pick a few random hens up and hold them for a minute before opening the hatch for the others to come out and release the bird in my hand on to the floor to go off with them all. After a few weeks, they get the hang of things and don't complain so much about being picked up.

 

[allotmentgolfer]

My next door neighbours fence is quite low and the girls kept popping next door and perching on various ornaments. Since I clipped a wing on each they have not been able to get there. They can still flutter a bit to get up onto hutches in our garden and are able to dive bomb the cat but it stopped them causing trouble elsewhere. They could probably still get over the fence if they thought about it but appear more content in their own turf.

I got the information on how to clip from a friend.

take care

The Allotment Golfer