Solved clipping wings

[Home Grown Poultry]

:big chicken:
thats the next step! LOL. I have a turkey hen that wont stay off the road and she has 2 poults with her. im worried about her causing an accident. well Iv tried to catch her before and finally did tonight, I had scissors allready hanging on the fence waiting.... I took all her primary feathers off of one wing even with the rest and threw her back in the pen and sat down and watched her. well she flew right back out over the 6' fence like I didnt do anything. Iv never clipped a wing before did I do it wrong? if I catch her on the road again teaching her poults bad tricks well... it aint guna end well for her and I'll have a couple poults free to good home. I wont put up with it!

any suggestions besides penning her up?

[Jaye]

I have no experience, and I know the idea behind clipping one wing is to upset the balance so they can't fly any distance, but maybe since that's not working, try trimming the other side s well? I dunno, maybe it will put a damper on how much loft she can get and she won't be able to clear the fence?

[ross]

Texted you Al ... I can't get what I sent on PTO from phone . Luck

[Home Grown Poultry]

I was thinking the same thing Jaye and almost did it but didnt feel like chasing her again.

Heres the link Ross sent me, we're guna have to make our own version and get it up in the Fowl Facts, It really is great info.

First off only clip feathers with shafts that are white and are done growing. If they are dark and growing they will be filled with blood and it will hurt the bird.

What I did by trimming off 50% of all the primaries on 1 wing is usually all that a bird needs to keep grounded.

The next step is taking off 50% of the secondaries as well.

If that dosent keep the bird grounded you take off 95% of both the primaries and the secondaries. This is quite extreme but necessary on a determined, flighty bird and that is what I'm going to do in the AM.

Shes one of my original hens and I'd hate to loose her! Thanks again for the link Ross. I should have been prepared with this info prior to doing it but then again I didnt know just how determined she was! Now I'm hoping that the poults bird brains can forget about the road!

https://poultrykeeper.com/general-chick ... ns-flying/

[Killerbunny]

I am STILL raising the fence with ship wrap string (cheap). to try and keep them in. I only have one going over now LOL! My final straw was when they stopped traffic on the road, thankfully a minor road.

[poultry_admin]

Al,
I think ross referred to his graphic in this moved topic:
http://www.poultrytalkontario.net/forum ... =82&t=1082

Good to have fowl facts!!

[Home Grown Poultry]

LOL Martin and I even stickied it! Soooooo the question is..... who has the bird brain now ehh?!!!!

[baronrenfrew]

Hmmm... I think fence height is relative as turkeys are tall to start with and they're "flight" is really a "leap or jump" same as a flushing pheasant or quail. Our dogs have "flushed" many young turkeys from our south pasture. Heck i've had some chickens (especially cornish: yes they're heavy but the buggers can fly!) clear my 10 foot fence. And once they've "learned" it can be done they're more determined. Also "no peck peepers" are great as it messes up their vision: aka ability to calculate fence height and distance. D'oh...i just checked...i don't think peepers come in turkey sizes.

[Robbie]

QR_BBPOST Also "no peck peepers" are great as it messes up their vision: aka ability to calculate fence height and distance.

Funny you should say that, the other day I was admiring my Buckeye hen close up as she was staring up at me, and I noticed that the way their heads and eyes are angled, they must have a decent amount of binocular vision. Another hen thought that would be a great time to peck the Buckeye right in the eye. Those third eyelids must be on some kind of reflex, there was no injury at all even though I saw it clearly, the peck was right in the eyeball. No damage done fortunately. Yikes!

I've found that having a flimsy top to a fence helps keep them in. They like to land on the top of the fence, and if it's wobbly or too thin they will not try to jump out. I have stuck some loose chicken wire so that it flops over the top of the fence, a three foot fence kept them in. At least for chickens anyway, I don't know about turkeys.

[WLLady]

I would personally section off a piece of barn and keep her in if taking down 90% of the feathers on one wing won't keep her in. and clip the poults now, before they learn it. they might give up before they too are flying around like mad.