Wing clipping poults

[Ferretboy111]

Hello all-

 

My poults are 4 weeks old on Tuesday and I'm deciding whether I'm going to wing clip them when I release at 7 weeks or not.....

 

I've always wing clipped before..... What do other people suggest?

 

 

Cheers A

[Beretta28g]

DONT DO IT !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Leave them full winged and they will be able to fly and pearch out of the way of predators, you have to make a bit more effort dogging in ad suchlike but in my opinion the birds will benifit from it.

[PheasantMan]

I disagree. Clip them, We sell nearlly 350,000 7 week old poults every year and although i hate doing it we clip nearlly every single one, theres a reason for it!! :-)

[creakindoor]

Hello all-

 

My poults are 4 weeks old on Tuesday and I'm deciding whether I'm going to wing clip them when I release at 7 weeks or not.....

 

I've always wing clipped before..... What do other people suggest?

 

 

Cheers A

Depends on circumstances, but if you are in a foxy area & your release woods are surrounded

by standing crops & the farmers combine after dark then it may be wise to clip.

[Beretta28g]

Surley a clipped wing bird would be easier for a fox to get?

[PheasantMan]

I wouldnt say its much easier, at that age there reactions are not really that great i can catch a non wing clipped poult when it gets out which means a fox can too I think it just easier for the keeper having them clipped rather than the fact a [redator can get them i think if a fox can get to them it will get them clipped or not

[markm]

I think pheasant man summed it up.

 

You don't put a 7 week old pheasant anywhere near danger, they have no concept of danger for 10 - 14 days.

 

If you want to know how safe pheasants are in a pen , wing clipped and with a fencer unit. try going naked on all 4's and lick the electric fence with your tongue. Then try and do it for a second time. A fox won't come back.

 

That's why your birds will be safe.

[Beretta28g]

Actually when i come to think about it we put ours to wood older than 7 weeks. 10-12 Usually.

[creakindoor]

Surley a clipped wing bird would be easier for a fox to get?

All reared pheasants clipped or not are easy prey for a fox if outside

the pen during the release stage.

The problem with free winged birds is their tendancy to fly over the pen wire

at last light often en mass.

They then spend the night jugging on the ground, often in standing or laid crops around the wood.

This can result in huge fox kills I have seen & experienced it...soul destroying.

Night time combining can also result in large losses.

So wing clipping although tedious & time consuming is often a must.

[creakindoor]

Actually when i come to think about it we put ours to wood older than 7 weeks. 10-12 Usually.

At that age they would have to go out full winged as they would have no juvenile feathers left to clip.

[scolopax]

I remember the first time I released some, 120 poults not clipped into a decent pen with lots of ground cover. Checked on them again in the evening and about 70 were outside the pen jugging down in the braken, managed to walk about 5 back in! Never saw the rest of them again, they got into the standing crops around the wood, saw odds and **** over the next week at varying distances from the pen and that was it, dehydration probably got most of them in the end. Since then they have always been wing clipped, only take a couple of weeks or so for them to grow back and by that time they are hefted to the pen.

[webber]

All reared pheasants clipped or not are easy prey for a fox if outside

the pen during the release stage.

The problem with free winged birds is their tendancy to fly over the pen wire

at last light often en mass.

They then spend the night jugging on the ground, often in standing or laid crops around the wood.

This can result in huge fox kills I have seen & experienced it...soul destroying.

Night time combining can also result in large losses.

So wing clipping although tedious & time consuming is often a must.

 

 

Thats about it really, well summed up.

 

webber

[wy111]

To clip or not, is an argument that has, and will, go on for years. There are devoted advocates for both.

I get mine clipped(usually around 8 weeks old on delivery), including ex-layers, for the following reasons.

When first released into their pens, if not clipped, a lot will simply just disappear too far over the wire, with no idea of where the feeders and water are, and just wander off, as they will not hear the other birds and come back in through the bob holes, so will probably die of dehydration, farm work or vermin predation(control is never 100% effective). They get to know the pen is a place of food, water and comparative safety(with normal security measures). If they are in the pen for a few weeks, medication can also be administered if needed.

If you think a clipped bird cannot fly or roost(albeit not very high), think again! Clipping 1 wing only causes unbalanced flight, even a 2 week old wild chick can manage 20yds+ if need be, but at least it gives you a chance to keep them in check.

The only sure fire way of stopping birds flying out of a release pen until you want to, is to net it over, but, as those who know, this is an impossible task and would have problems in it's own right during the fall and the shooting season!

[proTOM1]

Dont have pheasants as a rule but we wing pull a fair few of our poult patridges found they grow back quicker than clpping ,all you need to pull is the 3 flight feathers on 1 wing so its quick aswell

[malantone]

If your pen is vermin/fox proof and poults around 7 weeks old then clip, it gives poults a chance to get to know their surroundings and learn to avoid those swoopy brown things, they`ll grow new flight feathers and leave eventually but they will have learned to roost and a whole lot more before they do.

[malantone]

To clip or not, is an argument that has, and will, go on for years. There are devoted advocates for both.

I get mine clipped(usually around 8 weeks old on delivery), including ex-layers, for the following reasons.

When first released into their pens, if not clipped, a lot will simply just disappear too far over the wire, with no idea of where the feeders and water are, and just wander off, as they will not hear the other birds and come back in through the bob holes, so will probably die of dehydration, farm work or vermin predation(control is never 100% effective). They get to know the pen is a place of food, water and comparative safety(with normal security measures). If they are in the pen for a few weeks, medication can also be administered if needed.

If you think a clipped bird cannot fly or roost(albeit not very high), think again! Clipping 1 wing only causes unbalanced flight, even a 2 week old wild chick can manage 20yds+ if need be, but at least it gives you a chance to keep them in check.

The only sure fire way of stopping birds flying out of a release pen until you want to, is to net it over, but, as those who know, this is an impossible task and would have problems in it's own right during the fall and the shooting season!

 

DURING THE FALL I THOUGHT YOU WERE FROM YORKSHIRE NOT USA. IT`S AUTUMN MAN AUTUMN

[highseas]

I disagree. Clip them, We sell nearlly 350,000 7 week old poults every year and although i hate doing it we clip nearlly every single one, theres a reason for it!! :-)

every bird we sell is clipped but we have ours un clipped! unless we are whistle feeding them, i like them to be able to do their own thing doging in can be hard work but its worth it, and it makes catching up soo much faster (when you have half of ******* europe to help)

[highseas]

I think pheasant man summed it up.

 

You don't put a 7 week old pheasant anywhere near danger, they have no concept of danger for 10 - 14 days.

 

If you want to know how safe pheasants are in a pen , wing clipped and with a fencer unit. try going naked on all 4's and lick the electric fence with your tongue. Then try and do it for a second time. A fox won't come back.

 

That's why your birds will be safe.

i have 9 relise pens each with upto 2000 in them and we dont use 1 fence unit and dont have mass kills (we kill 20-30 foxes a year too) a good snare line is key

[highseas]

To clip or not, is an argument that has, and will, go on for years. There are devoted advocates for both.

I get mine clipped(usually around 8 weeks old on delivery), including ex-layers, for the following reasons.

When first released into their pens, if not clipped, a lot will simply just disappear too far over the wire, with no idea of where the feeders and water are, and just wander off, as they will not hear the other birds and come back in through the bob holes, so will probably die of dehydration, farm work or vermin predation(control is never 100% effective). They get to know the pen is a place of food, water and comparative safety(with normal security measures). If they are in the pen for a few weeks, medication can also be administered if needed.

If you think a clipped bird cannot fly or roost(albeit not very high), think again! Clipping 1 wing only causes unbalanced flight, even a 2 week old wild chick can manage 20yds+ if need be, but at least it gives you a chance to keep them in check.

The only sure fire way of stopping birds flying out of a release pen until you want to, is to net it over, but, as those who know, this is an impossible task and would have problems in it's own right during the fall and the shooting season!

it depends how you relise them too many people just **** them out of the crates in to the pen the birds run out and fly once one goes thats it the rest follow but, if you place the crate with the side door open under cover even quite tall trees will do they wont fly at all it takes longer and you may have to carry them a long way but whay rush it now to buggerit up later? too many game farmers are to keen to get birds unloaded and get to the next drop too imop

[highseas]

To clip or not, is an argument that has, and will, go on for years. There are devoted advocates for both.

I get mine clipped(usually around 8 weeks old on delivery), including ex-layers, for the following reasons.

When first released into their pens, if not clipped, a lot will simply just disappear too far over the wire, with no idea of where the feeders and water are, and just wander off, as they will not hear the other birds and come back in through the bob holes, so will probably die of dehydration, farm work or vermin predation(control is never 100% effective). They get to know the pen is a place of food, water and comparative safety(with normal security measures). If they are in the pen for a few weeks, medication can also be administered if needed.

If you think a clipped bird cannot fly or roost(albeit not very high), think again! Clipping 1 wing only causes unbalanced flight, even a 2 week old wild chick can manage 20yds+ if need be, but at least it gives you a chance to keep them in check.

The only sure fire way of stopping birds flying out of a release pen until you want to, is to net it over, but, as those who know, this is an impossible task and would have problems in it's own right during the fall and the shooting season!

it depends how you relise them too many people just **** them out of the crates in to the pen the birds run out and fly once one goes thats it the rest follow but, if you place the crate with the side door open under cover even quite tall trees will do they wont fly at all it takes longer and you may have to carry them a long way but whay rush it now to buggerit up later? too many game farmers are to keen to get birds unloaded and get to the next drop too imop