Clipping Wings

I have a couple of quail that are very frisky and love nothing more than scaring the pants off me by trying to fly away, one thinks i am keeping it in Alcatraz and makes a bolt for it at every available oportunity. So i was wondering about clipping wings and how you go about it. My main concern is i am going away in MAy and my Grandad is looking after them fo rme and i know he would feel awful if any got out when he was in charge.

So any thoughts and hints?

Hugs
Batty XxX

Hi Batty,

My birds don't fly that much, so I've no need to clip their wings.

If your concidering doing this, only clip on wing, this will put the bird off balance and it'll soon crash to ground.

Derek.

I've been looking into the benefits of wing clipping and because mine go from pen to pen and outside too, it might just well be a good thing. Most of the ladies are fine, but i do have 2 rather bouncy ladies who are desperate to give flying a go, so i might just give them a little snip here and there.

Most sites recommend clipping both wings so they balance better and the new thing seems to be clipping quite lightly so they glide rather than crash land.

But i might have a go this weekend if i can get the courage up as i wouldn't want to hurt them, but it is a scary undertaking.

Anyone else have any experience in wing clipping?

Hugs
Batty XxX

We clip the wings of our bantams. We clip the flight feathers on just one wing, this makes them unable to control their flight.
With one batch we were a bit late trimming the feathers, it was a real pain getting them down when they decided to roost.
They go up trees, on top of fences and one liked to sit on the washing line.

I would think that trimming just one wing would be the best.

Thanks

H-A

Yeh - we do our young chooks as when they grow up they tend to give up on the flying thing. Do one wing only and just the primary feathers I think - the ones on the end of the wing. If you hold wing up to the light in a dark room you should be able to see where the blood ends in the feathers. My quail have managed to bonk the top of the aviary which is about 7 ft!