Clipping one wing or both?

[farmgirlsomeday]

I have a 46 inch fence around my run with no top. Because it's open on top, I've been clipping my hens' wings - both of them. However I've been reading that many other people clip only one wing to prevent the hen from having the balance for flight. Is this more effective? Would this lack of balance created when only one wing is clipped make it hard for them to get up to and down from their roost overnight, or make it difficult for them to get up to their raised nestboxes, which are about 16-22 inches off the coop floor? I'd love some feedback on which wing clipping method is preferred by BYCers and why.

 

[ChickenCurt]

I clip both simply because I read that many off balance birds have been injured due to crash landing. (simular to a plane whose wing was clipped)

46"? Some of mine leap near 5' so watch for the athletic ones.

 

[farmgirlsomeday]

Thanks for the input @ChickenCurt. I agree that some birds can get over a 46 inch fence, but I don't worry too much because when/if one does hop over, they're then inside my backyard which is fully fenced with a solid 8 ft privacy fence

 

[ChickenCurt]

None have jumped that high but if one does post a pic of the olympian.

 

[pawtraitart]

I have a 46 inch fence around my run with no top. Because it's open on top, I've been clipping my hens' wings - both of them. However I've been reading that many other people clip only one wing to prevent the hen from having the balance for flight. Is this more effective? Would this lack of balance created when only one wing is clipped make it hard for them to get up to and down from their roost overnight, or make it difficult for them to get up to their raised nestboxes, which are about 16-22 inches off the coop floor? I'd love some feedback on which wing clipping method is preferred by BYCers and why.

I always clip one wing....but I do this BEFORE they learn to fly up high. I raise up quite a few juveniles and even though we live on 8 acres, my birds will wander too far out into the surrounding fields if they get out of their fenced in areas. I find that if I clip one wing before they are good at flying, they stay closer to the ground and don't go over the fence. Mature birds that already have developed flight muscles and have been flying around are a different story, of course.

 

[Coralietg]

We clipped our chickens wing after they kept flying over our (too short, but very expensive) 4 foot fence against the road. I've found it's much more effective just clipping one wing. We still have one or two lighter chickens, a leghorn and an EE who are troublemakers and can still make the jump.

 

[Gear]

This interests me, I am building an open roof run for my chickens, and the fencing will be 5 ft high. I'm wondering if I need to clip their wings, I'm surrounded by fields and it'd be so easy to lose them in them.

They're Light Sussex chickens, 20 w/o.

 

[GreenSoul]

I am also interested in this. We have a yard they will range in that is very large but i don't know that my neighbors would be ok with a bird in there garden that are very elaborate. What are the pros vs cons of clipping one vs two?

 

[roostersandhens]

I recently rescued 10 hens from a filthy farm. I don't clip any of my chickens wings. Anyways, they all have 1 wing clipped. They keep crashing into stuff and it is really sad..

 

[Sierrab]

I was raised on farms with many chickens and we always clipped one wing and I do that now with my own brood. Never had any issues with them getting hurt, including the mischievous EEs.

We only clip a wing when we notice them jumping/flying where they are not supposed to; being surrounded by dog owners, we worry about our pets being others' snacks.
I noticed 4 of them on the other side of a 5 foot fence last week and we clipped one wing on all of them; they haven't gone across since, we only do it a couple times a year.