Clipping the wing of a chicken can stop her from flying which is sometimes essential to keep her safely confined behind a fence, away from predators or off your garden.

Before clipping a wing, you should first consider whether it is actually necessary. Heavy breeds such as Orpingtons can't fly very well but lighter, mediteranean breeds such as Leghorns can fly reasonably well and some bantams can fly almost vertically.

If in doubt, assuming it is safe for them to get out, why not let your birds settle in to their enclosure and see whether they can get out? Remember with a clipped wing, it will also make it harder for them to fly away from any predators. Once you decide to clip a wing, hold the chicken firmly (you may find this easier with two people), check the quills of the feathers you are going to clip are white. When feathers grow, they are full of blood and appear very dark / almost black in the quill.

• Only clip ONE wing to unbalance the bird and only cut primary flight feathers. Do not cut growing feathers that are full of blood and remember, feathers will re-grow after a moult.

Feathers that are growing should not be cut. Cut the primary flight feathers on one wing with sharp scissors. As a general rule, shorten them by about 50%. For determined flyers they will still manage to fly unless the wing is clipped a little harder. You can of course gradually clip their wing in stages.

The diagram shows the feathers to cut, you will be shortening them by about 50%
Another way to cut the feathers, leaving the wing looking very neat afterwards is to use a pair of sharp wire cutters. Strong toe nail clippers are good on smaller birds. Hold the birds wing firmly and with your hand covering the bone (it helps to have an assistant), isolate the first primary and bend it up at 90 degrees about 1 inch from the bone. Cut the feather off with snips. Continue down the wing for all 10 primaries and then smooth over the short covering feathers and you have a clean look and no cut edges showing.

You don't have to bend the feathers up when clipping the wing this way but it does make it easy to see whether each feather has any blood in it which shows that it is still growing.