Many urban cities now allow the raising of chickens, but only because chickens can easily be domesticated. Chickens cannot be as domestic as cats and dogs. They cannot be trained to do tricks, and they are not as friendly, although they can easily be trained to be docile around their owners or other humans.
City laws require owners to control their chickens fully. Chickens should not cause any ruckus by making any loud, disturbing sounds. They should not also crowd around outside their dwellings and in public. This is why clipping chicken wings are important when you own chickens in your house.
Clipping chicken wings is necessary because it prevents them from flying. Of course, chickens can’t fly the same way other birds can. However, they can take flight for a few inches that can allow them to go places…
…this ability may enable them to escape your backyard when they are not in their coop. If you think you can afford for them to have the ability of limited and temporary flight, then maybe you don’t need to clip their wings. However, this is almost always not the case… in turn, clipping chicken wings is almost always necessary.
Many misinformed owners of chickens may think that clipping chicken wings is cruel. However, the parts involved in clipping chicken wings are not at all connected to any body part that might cause pain. In a way, what you clip is similar to your hair. If you do not feel any pain when you hair is cut, then your chickens will not feel pain when their wings are clipped.
But how is clipping chicken wings done anyway?
Although the procedure may seem hard, it is actually very simple. All you need to do is clip around two-thirds of the first ten feathers of their wings. So while clipping chicken wings may seem like you are cutting their wings, the truth is, you are simply cutting a part of their feathers. These feathers give them the ability to balance when in flight. Without it, they cannot fly.
The first thing you have to do is catch the chicken. This may be hard for some, but if you have been raising these chickens, catching them should be easy, especially since most backyard-raised chickens are already docile. It may be best if you make them more accustomed to human contact when they are young. Besides clipping chicken wings, this will make other related procedures easier.
Once you have caught them, calm them down. While clipping chicken wings will not hurt them at all, they will be disoriented with the procedure if they are not calmed or prepared. Pet them, coo them—do whatever works. This is a case by case procedure.
After this, you invert the chicken so you can identify the feathers to be clipped. Once you know what to clip, you can now cut them. After clipping the chickens wings, you can now release them.
At first, they will seem disoriented, but they will not feel pain or shock.
Others may ask if clipping chicken wings is something best left to veterinarians. Although this is a case by case basis, there is actually no need to go to the vet for this simple procedure. Besides, the cost of this procedure if done by a vet is insane, considering you can do it on your own without anything else by a clean pair of scissors. You may feel a bit uncomfortable when you first try clipping chicken wings, but you will get the hang of it.
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