[slowef]

Hi, My hen has 2 very young chicks, how old will they be before she starts to lay again.

How do you clip wings, is it hard or safe to do yourself.  I have a couple of acres with no neighbours so straying wouldn't be a problem so is it needed?
S
x

[muntjac]

she will start to lay in 6-8 weeks if she feels like it ,, in 6 - 8  weeks when the chicks are feeding etc independantly  take the chicks away from her and she will soon settle down back to a routine of laying eggs .put the chicks in a sep pen of thier own for a week  and return em as i do to the main flock , this depends on wherther ur bothered about her laying eggs if not leave her with them for as long as it takes

[Aunt Sally]

Wing clipping is easy and best carried out with two people (for the first time anyway).  Only one wing needs to be trimmed to unbalance flight.



Hold the chook comfortably under your arm with her head facing backwards.  

With your other hand spread her wing. (The one which is away from your body) and trim the primaries as seen in the diagram above.

Avoid cutting to short as the base of the feather contains a blood supply.

Only cut the 8-10 primary feathers as the others are needed for insulation.  

[slowef]

thanks for the advice. do you think I should do it though, what cases are reason to do so I don't want to upset her if its not necessary

[Aunt Sally]

It won't upset your hens at all  :!:

[psipower]

Hi slowef,

I personally wouldn't bother with the wing clipping! It is probably only useful if you want to enclose them with low fences.  Our birds certainly enjoy flying up onto things to admire the view/explore/look pretty - stone walls, wheelbarrows, garden furniture etc... - although if their wings were clipped I suppose I could provide step ladders for them!

Practically, I put their house in the corner that is well fenced, and they have a long walk to the unfenced neighbours, and prefer the rampant wilderness of our garden to the barren lawns of next-doors.

[Aunt Sally]

A wing clipped chook can still fly up onto things about 4 ft up.  They are just not able to sustain flight to get higher of further because they are unbalanced having only one wing clipped.

That's given me a very funny mental image of a chook flying 1 ft off the ground like a cork screw  

[muntjac]

if ya birds in ya back garden etc then feather clipping is usfull but when the out in the sticks they dont need it doing