How to Clip Duck Flight Feathers 

I didn't really cut much, and it gives it a nicer, clean-cut look to remove all the flight feathers on the one wing. I prefer them to look nice, not ragged.

I usually leave three outer primaries and then clip maybe the next five, below the coverlets as you did. Of course I've never done it all by myself in midair. Great job. We carry them into the garage and put them on the dryer on a towel and one of us holds them down and one of us clips them. I usually do both sides but so far no one has flown off except for... Well actually I don't think any of them have flown off after they were clipped. Petunia flew off for 2 days and then she got hungry. Willow flew into the dog park behind our house and she wouldn't come out of the pond. The next morning the neighbor teased her with some food and pulled her into her backyard. And Lillabet flew onto the top of the duck house then the porch then the real roof and disappeared for 14 months. She reappeared last month. It looks like she brought a boy. But she and our Shadow seem to be having a wonderful relationship. She preens him every night on their shelf in the duck house. And the boyfriend, who was not a domestic Muscovy, got a nice ride to a park with a pond and a stream and some woods. Since he is wild we figure he will be fine and hope he will not return. I still can't believe that after all that time our girl came back. I thought she was dead somewhere. (Now she is bossing around everyone in the yard. And she's not even broody yet) Years ago, my house duck Snuggles, flew off from the backyard. 4 and 1/2 hours later my roommate hurts something scratching on the front door and he opened it and let her in and she went to her room and went to bed. We clipped her the next day. She was four and a half at the time. I had her for 9 years and then she died. She was a good duck.

Just one wing. Then when they grow new feathers and you need to clip again, do the other wing instead.

@MacLeanHomestead thank you so much for the fast reply and just out of curiosity what would happen of both wings were clipped at once?

@nicklucero24 they're better balanced and will supposedly figure out how to still fly a little bit. The point of clipping one side is to throw off their balance (in flight) so it's much more difficult to get over fences.

@nicklucero24 and you're very welcome. I try to answer livestock questions asap because I feel like there are a lot of people out there like me that forget to ask important questions until they're in the middle of doing something and realize "I don't know what to do next." I've gotten far enough in my homesteading journey that I feel like I can help people now, and I have less of those moments.

@MacLeanHomestead I'm going pick up 2 Pairs of muscovy ducks today. (This is my first time) I just simply want them to hangout in my pond swimming so the kids can watch them. Next question I do have 3 wood duck boxes do you happen to know if they get along with other wild ducks like wood duck?

Nope, it's like cutting your hair or nails. The nerves aren't in the feather itself. They actually "shed" (in a process called molting) their feathers, usually twice a year.