Why we clipped our Chicken's wings

Having backyard chickens is something I just love. Having farm fresh eggs every day, allowing them to free range on our one acre is a dream. Knowing where our food comes from is really important to our family. Knowing what the diet of our chickens consists of and the overall health impacts the quality of their eggs. These particular chickens we use strictly for their egg laying abilities. Meat birds are something we do want to add to our little homestead in the near future. 

There is one thing about these ladies that does get under my skin; their love to scratch and peck, knowing no bounds. After time and time again of finding them in our raised garden boxes, pecking and eating our vegetables, we decided to fence in the garden, hoping that would alleviate the temptation. However, it didn't. They would still fly over the fence and enjoy the garden as if it was an open buffet. Next, we added bird netting to the garden boxes but they continued to find a way into the boxes destroying entire crops of onions and peppers. I knew we needed to clip their wings. I was a bit hesitant because I knew their ability to fly was their defense mechanism and if they were ever in danger, I wanted them to be able to flee. We do have a livestock guardian dog and lock their coup for their protection at night. I just needed to trust the dog would do his job and clip their wings to save the garden. I was at my wits end!

I did a quick bit of research and rallied the kids to help me the next day. It was so much easier than I thought it was going to be and it’s been an absolute success! First thing in the morning, while they were still cooped up, one of my girls would catch a hen and hold it for me while I clipped the one side of the wings. We also used this as an opportunity to check for any mites. One of our hens is particularly prone for some reason. It all went off without a hitch and I got to take the ugly netting off my garden boxes and enjoy the beauty of my bountiful garden!

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Here are a few tips I learned along the way:

-Only clip one side of the wings. If you clip both sides, the chicken will strengthen their muscles and learn to fly with the shortened wings. The trick is it to off balance them. So, by only clipping one side is how you can throw them off kilter and not be able to fly.

-See the diagram below for the correct wings to clip. Chickens have 4 different major types of feathers in their wings. They all serve different purposes, so it’s important that you clip the correct feathers.

-Will they grow back and how often do I need to clip their feathers? Yes, they do grow back but only when they get their new feathers after molting once or twice a year.

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Here's how to get it done:

Here are the chicken wing feather basics. You can see the 4 different main sets of feathers. The coverts are the feathers that keep them warm, so we don't want to touch those. We are going to clip the primaries.

Here is a more detailed image

Hold the chicken close to you. They do best when you secure their feet against you or your hand. Decide which wing of the chicken you are going to clip. We chose their right side. Fan out their wing gently and with a sharp pair of scissors, cut their Primaries to be in line with their secondaries. You slightly curve up towards the top of their wing.

And that's it. It's super simple!

It does not hurt the chickens. It would be as if you or I were clipping our nails. If you clip too short, yes, it can hurt, so stay in line with their secondary wings.

Let me know if you have tried this with your flock! I'd love to hear how it worked out for you.