Clipping Chicken Wings

Chickens can't fly as well as other birds, but they can flap their wings enough to carry them over fences and out of the coop. If you've got backyard free range chickens, clipping their wings is a must so that you chickens don't escape and get lost, or worse, in trouble with an angry dog or some other predator in the area.

Clipping chicken wings is a bit daunting if you've never done it before, but once you've clipped a wing or two, you'll discover that it really isn't as difficult or dangerous as you may have thought.

Materials:

• Clean pair of sharp scissors
• Towel (optional)
• Pliers (optional safety measure)
• Corn Starch (optional safety measure)
• Gauze or rag (optional safety measure)

Step 1 Catch a chicken

The hardest part about clipping chicken wings is catching the chicken. Some chickens are docile and like being touched, others fear humans and run away like their lives depended on it (which I guess they do sometimes).

A few things that seem to help is to corner them in a small space so they have less of an area to get away from you. You can also use a towel and throw it over the chicken. That should slow them down enough long enough to grab them.

Once you grab the chicken, you should gently apply pressure to their wings and pick them up, or you can go for the pro maneuver and snatch them up by their ankles. Watch out for their claws and beaks.

The more regularly you handle your chickens, the easier it will be to catch and hold them. So for some chickens, this may be a non issue, but for first timers, it's a little challenging.

Comments

[syoung26]

Thanks - really clear instructions - like the others, we are off to try it now

Thanks for your help

[redgilnc]

Thank you! A appreciate this post. Very well done with the pictures and explanation.

[CatTrampoline]

Beautiful bird - she looks like our Aracona cross, Stripe.

[CatTrampoline]

A large salmon net is a good way to catch escaped fowl without excessive chasing. You still need to herd/chase them into a corner but the net works much better than the hands for the inital catch. Then carefully fold their wings up and lift them out by their feet.

I used to keep pet chickens at our old place and looked up one day to see the door of the run open, all 6 birds out, and my 5-yr old chasing them around the fenced main yard in an attempt to recapture them. We got them rounded up before the hawks and neighbor cats came over.

Re: Bloodfeathers - when my cockatiels would break a blood feather by crashing into something, pulling the remains of the feather out with forceps stopped the bleeding more surely than styptic powder. This was done on the advice of an avian vet and hurt about as much as pulling out a hair from one's head.

[canida]

Can you see how far down the feathers the blood vessels extend, or is it a bit of guesswork?

[CatTrampoline]

You should be able to see it. I could always tell when one of my birds was growing in a new feather - the quill will look a lot darker or redder than the surrounding feather quills.

[Lithium Rain]

I can never see it, personally. Not saying it's impossible though. But you'd have to be cutting ridiculously close to clip a vein.

[Sky Graham]

Hey there, level 800 Master Chicken Catcher, can catch two roosters at the same time - Out here in the sticks, aint got nuthin but chicken coops rain barrels and solar panels. Common sense is a valuable thing, it helps you evaluate whether or not or how you should do something, if you are planning on clipping wings, please allow your brain to supercede anything that you may read here or there, do not be one of the countless people that have cut an animals nails too short or clipped a wing to close to the quill. I see people asking questions like how soon can I cut the wing or how far down should I cut it, this scares me. There is no simple answer, cutting a yung chicks wings is dangerous, and the amount of wing that you clip will be based on the size of the bird, not some arbitrary width that u can set on your protracter, you must use common sense. Also, it is only 1 wing you clip not two; Unless you have coddled your chicken since a baby, the holding it and putting its head under its wing is fear and unconciousness. Chickens have small heads, when u tip them upside down, the blood rushes to their head and causes unconciousness - normally you do this when you are cutting their head off. Holding a bird nicely can be done under your arm, allowing the bird to place its feet on your hand and roost, this puts the bird at ease. And as for the chicken wire escapes, if a bird goes nutso on a piece of chicken wire fence, the fence loses to the chicken, look closely for broken links - they are hard to notice, an undamaged fence will not stop a racoon from reaching in and eating the guts from the other side - A rooster will work as an alarm and will sacrifice himself first.

[darrenchittick]

It's funny how many folks think they always need to find some other person to do things for them. Kudos to you for learning and sharing how to do things. Clipping feathers is like clipping hair. No pain no muss. Clip only one so they are off balance and they'll not be flying off to get themselves in trouble with cars or neighbor's animals. This is about safety for the chicken. If I can keep them in the controlled environment of my yard, I can keep the other stuff out.

One thing you might try, is clipping after they've gone to roost for the night. They are just ready to sleep and don't care what you do! No catching. :)

Happy chicken keeping!

[jonsnent]

Great idea, catch them when they are tired.

[varnold]

I learned an easy way of catching chickens a long time ago. If you have an old wire coat hangar, straighten it out and form a small hook on one end. You just have to get close and hook their feet. No chasing them all over the yard. Hope this helps.

[Bluechookegg]

How long do I have to wait till I clip my hens wings again?

[Caraher]

I did this step buy step and it did the job .Thanks

[MoxXieMox]

Honestly this is something that should be left at the hands of a veterinarian. Mainly due to if the person does this wrong it can truly injure the animal. This is definitely something much easier said than done. Much previous experience is needed with handling live animals and definitely birds. Because birds are very fragile and can be frightened to the point that they go into shock. Thank you for sharing however this should definitely be used with caution.

[virtualnoodles]

chickens are very calm once you pick them up they aren't going to be traumatized if they struggle just put there head under a wing and they fall right asleep

[Dr Qui]

Honestly, MoxXieMox you must have never kept chickens, chickens are far from fragile.

This Instructable is spot on. And in my view as an owner of chickens ducks etc, is a more humane thing than have them escape and get gored to death by next doors dogs or cats.

Only ever clip one wing, do not be tempted to clip both or the bird will still be able to fly to a certain extent.  I once had a Mallard duck that decided to follow its wild cousins because I had clipped both its  winds.  I found out later from the guy i got the Mallard from that i should only have clipped one wing.

[melartweaver]

 I would always resort to a veterinarian, but something as simple as this...  The feathers don't supply blood or life-sustaining energy to the body of the birds.  I think this instructable is safe to follow.

[abracadava]

we are a long way from the backend of nowhere, vet needed but only us here. thank god i found this site. our hens got out last night, just captured them and clipped all three. sometimes you have to think for yourself & use common sense, - at this rate, noone would dare change a lightbulb.

[Peanut123]

PS Clip the feathers NOT the wing

[jonsnent]

Thanks for saying feathers not wings. Get someone on here that don't really understand and wa-la you got a mess on your hands. You can cut parrakets feathers also so they don't fly.

[Peanut123]

Hey, this is not an issue to be left to a vet. This is a simple procedure and will not put the chicken into shock. Besides the price for the vet to come and clip is way over the price to replace your neighbors garden bed

[Mongoose13]

Honestly, this is something that chicken owners should learn how to do. I don't know what kind of birds you handle, but chickens can handle this type of thing with no problem.

[olivierdemontpellier]

hello, i have done this to my chickens, it's not fun when a chicken fly away, we just cut the feathers, not the whole wing, there are no nerves in the feather, it's just like cutting hairs.

[noahw]

I'm not trying to be argumentative, but I've got to disagree with you there. I'm not a chicken owner, but my friend is, as are many people these days. Clipping chicken wings is a perfectly safe when done properly. Pet owners need to learn how to do all kinds of interesting and delicate procedures on their animals to keep them safe, healthy and happy. I'm not against veterinarians either, I just think that they have a time and place. Many animal owners, farm workers, and people who around more than just cats and dogs in a domestic setting become jacks of all trades when it comes to helping their animals.

[jonsnent]

Hey, thats me. Jackette of all trades please.

[socialtalker]

perhaps it might be best when doing it for the first time, being overseen by a vet, or chicken expert might be best, no? it seems like workshop/classes in animal care in home farming might start to become very popular. i know when i was beekeeping, taking a class to be overseen by an instructor was an enormous help.

[DIY-Guy]

Great instructions, very clear and unambiguous!
For anyone unsure of their abilities, never fear, this is easy! I'd rather clip a feather any day, than give myself a haircut with a mirror.

Clipping a feather at the halfway mark is no more dangerous than trimming your beard halfway. No classes needed, no supervision required.

We come to sites like this one because we are self-sufficient or we are trying to exercise our God given mental powers of observation and deduction. We are not helpless, incompetent, or otherwise lacking in ability to learn. If one can use a computer, post a comment, and pay the bill for the Internet Service... one can certainly use scissors to clip a few feathers. I hope everyone who needs encouragement to "do it yourself" can find the courage to do so after reading this comment.

[yoshi1]

http://www.omlet.co.uk/guide/
For more information on taking care of your chickens visit this site.

[zachschi]

Hi, great article! So I will need to do it every few months? Thanks.

[Pwag]

What's the filing cabinet for? There's away to do this when they are chicks, that keeps the primaries from growing in, it involves removing the tips of their wings entirely. I've never had the guts to do it, as I don't to risk losing a chicken. An easier way (but less amusing to the neighbors) of capturing them, is to do this at dawn (gross) or at dusk (easier) when they are tucked in for the night. Chickens have crazy poor night vision and their usually rather docile. If you hit them with a flashlight (not really hit them, but shine it in their eyes) it's easy to just reach out and pick em up.

[xenobiologista]

Just want to point out that some people consider pinioning to be cruel - along the lines of mulesing sheep or docking dogs' tails, it's something that's done for the convenience of humans. I don't have enough experience with chickens to be convinced either way so I'll reserve judgement.

[Pwag]

Oh heck, I also read that if you trim just one wing, they'll learn not to fly since when they do with one wing trimmed, they wind up doing a barrel roll and crashing. I haven't had luck with this, but it's worth a try and might be funny after a beer or two.

[xenobiologista]

One of my friends taught me how to hypnotise a chicken. Stuff its head under one of its wings and rock it gently in a horizontal swirling motion. Put it down on the ground and it will stay there. We tried it, it works!

[jhackett]

Excellent! I am going out this week to do some clipping. BTW, I was intrigued by the comment about the rattling food can. I'm gonna give it a try. Thanks...

[Holy Kalimari!]

I think just pouting a cover/mesh netting would be a better alternative then cutting the birds wings. Our coop has a plastic roof. This keeps pesky crows/hawks out, and the birds can move quicker if something does get in the pen. I'd sugest placing planks around the coop/outside so raccoons can't dig in. I can see this helpful if you a in a more city like setting, and need to keep them contained when they are out of their coop.

[itsmatt]

We clip the first 10 feathers (flight feathers) each year on one wing. Piece of cake really. takes less than a minute per bird. My older birds are easy to catch - they are handle often and trust me. We use plastic poultry netting and/or chicken wire to cage in their runs and that keeps predators out. My young girls can definitely up 6' pre-clipped no problem. But most of my birds are heavier, e.g., Orpingtons, and full grown they can't get up in the air much, but it does help them move out pretty quickly when frightened. Sharp scissors are generally all I ever need and I only clip one wing, clipping the flight feathers equal with the others. Never had any issues with this. My birds are calm enough that I don't invert them or anything like that but I would if need be. We have boards and bricks in a few places and have chicken wire horizontally on the ground for about 1' out to discourage predators. We don't get a lot of land-based predators - I've got dogs and livestock and I think this tends to make the place a little less attractive to coons and foxes. Hawks hang out all the time in our area. Haven't had an issue yet but I think things are busy enough at our place that they don't really get much of a chance to sneak down and grab one.

[itsmatt]

I type too fast for my own good. That's "handled often" and they can fly up 6'. :(

[melartweaver]

 When my mom had chickens, they would somehow get out, even though she used fishing net over the top of the coop area.  They can get out--and some wild ones still live in the woods there (in Kodiak, Alaska--no, it's not too cold or wild for them to survive in the wild, and yes, they can and do escape, usually one leaves and all the rest follow...).  I know from seeing one let out from an 18-wheeler, in Alabama, still sitting on the back of the same truck, going over 80 mph, to realize how communal and connected they are.  Yes, great instructable!

[virtualnoodles]

we had chickens and so long as we fed them they wouldnt run of. and what were you doin in alabama? thats where i live

[melartweaver]

 Thank you for this bit of info.  I want to have chickens one day and really will let this bit of info. soak into my memory.  My mother had chickens when I was young, and some of them flew out of the coop.  If she'd had your advice then, she'd have been a step ahead of the game!  

Thanks for sharing this great instructable!

Melissa