Pros and Cons of wing clipping ex-layers

[Jim Neal]

I'm a member of a 20 gun DIY shoot and I look after the keeping of the biggest pen which serves pretty much half the shoot. We release circa 500 birds in the pen, and the modus operandi has always been to clip the birds when releasing.

 

I've had an ongoing difference of opinion with the shoot captains about this because I haven't seen one shred of evidence that it keeps the birds in the pen any better than if they weren't clipped.

 

They can still flap their way over the fence. They can jump up between branches to gain height, then glide down out of the pen. There's always been loads of birds on the outsides of all of the shoot's pens, and the usual happens where they abscond relatively quickly after release.

 

My protestations have always been answered with "we want to keep them in as long as possible" but it just doesn't work. Last year we "compromised" by clipping some - I managed to get as many as possible out of the crates before they were mutilated, I guessed around 50%. I managed to keep the majority of birds in and around the pen absolutely fine by regular feeding and walking/dogging them back

 

My opinion is clipping only hampers their chance of survival. Pheasants use their flying ability to get up to roost and to escape danger. They travel long distances on the ground which is how they end up straying from the pens and drives, so it would make more sense to me to tie their legs together!!

 

I'd be interested in opinions

[Salop Matt]

Our best success with our Ex-layers has been with birds having their wings clipped and kept in for 7-8 weeks. Previously the birds were just walking off as they weren't clipped and let out after just 2 weeks with no sense of a home. Kept in the pen for the longer time left them feeling more safe there with food water and safe roosting, which I believe is why we got the better returns and retained the birds closer !

 

Our birds for this season are delivered tomorrow with their wings clipped !

 

[scotslad]

By rights u should not clip ex layers at all, if after the moult the feather won't grow back till the followig year.

Even with older or the more coloured/mature pheasant poults u have to watch not to clip any blood quills.

 

Like most thing in keepering/life there is no right/wrong answer some keepers will swear by it will others will never do it. Really it will only make any diference with poults for the 1st week to 10 days after that they should have there new feathers in anyway and u can clip the wings harder/softer so the birds can fly/flap more or less.

But if u get a fox in the pen 1st few nights u will have big problems anyway, but with clipped birds that real danger/disaster period is longer

 

I used to help on a big commercial shoot where he only clipped the wings in certain pens (ur usually better to ask the game farmer to do it rather than do it as u release them as less sressful only being handled the once), a couple of his pens were on steep bankings and it was easy for poults to flutter up and clear the bottom wire even thou were big pens

 

Really the only sure way to tell is clip 50% of the birds in each pen and ring all the birds and see wether the clipping rings show up more in the game bag at end of year, u probably will be surprised, but it could get different results in different years and on different shoots, wot works for 1 will not always work for all shoots.

And it will also matter how hard they are clipped seen some clipped poults thaat have hardly been touched so can fly almst as normal