At what age do I clip my Amazon's wings?

[gracebowen]

I looked at the picture again. All flight feathers were cut.

 

[sandra67]

do you see that painting in the background? You think I would let any of my pets ruin it?
There is no way this bird will be sitting on it and getting it full of poop..hahaha

 

[greytness]

I own 9 birds, none of which are clipped. None chew things that I don't want them to chew, as I have them out during a time when I can watch them. I also have 4 german shepherds. What I've done is put up a curtain and a gate across the room where they are out in order to keep them separated. I'd never even consider partially clipping them, because in the event that my birds and dogs were to somehow all be out in the same room together, I'd want my birds to be able to safely fly out of harm's way.

I believe there's a way to monitor your bird while out so that he can enjoy the gift of flight. Just my 2 cents.

 

[RavensGryf]

The answer is never.
Birds can be potty trained, as well as trained not to chew on furniture. Provide destructible toys for your bird to chew on instead of the furniture. Wing clipping is bad for all parrots, but it's especially bad for amazons because they are prone to obesity if they can't get exercise by flying. Wing trimming is an outdated practice that is declining as people learn that it causes more harm than benefits. Polls on birdchannel.com showed that in 2008, 40% of bird owners always kept their pets' wings clipped, but now only 26% do. Here is an anti wing-clipping article I found that I think makes a lot of good points: Aubrie's Animals

This sort of black and white, cut and dried take on this very controversial topic is what has caused threads like this to get shut down and closed.

The statistics mean nothing. That is just a small sample of bird owning population who are online savvy with bird groups. I see lines out the door at the bird store waiting to get grooming and wing clips done, and I know the vets do it all the time. Regardless... my point is, Please be careful to consider that others might have an entirely different individual situation than you. Others have already mentioned they clip for certain reasons. Enough other people I know of here give a light clip, even though it might not be mentioned. By stating it black and white, you may be insulting fellow long time members. Thanks.

Did you even read the article? I think the article makes it clear that the benefits of clipping aren't big enough to outweigh the drawbacks, if not outright false. I know that people clip for reasons, but the article proves many common reasons invalid. If you can think of a reason that this article doesn't talk about, let me know.

I am not going to debate with you about the article, the topic, or anything else. I do know Hartman Aviaries stance on the topic of clipping. I did not state my personal opinion here one way or another, or say that I disagree with flight and all birds must be clipped. But it is just not a topic that everyone on the forum is going to agree with period, and you may be heading toward an argument when members have already said they clip and you say point blank clipping is bad.

I'll say it again... my reason for posting on this thread was to remind members to keep it civil. The 'pointing of the finger' type of post (and yes I saw other people's too) is what will cause senseless heated arguments. If that starts happening, this thread WILL be closed.

 

[AmyMyBlueFront]

The answer is never.
Birds can be potty trained, as well as trained not to chew on furniture. Provide destructible toys for your bird to chew on instead of the furniture. Wing clipping is bad for all parrots, but it's especially bad for amazons because they are prone to obesity if they can't get exercise by flying. Wing trimming is an outdated practice that is declining as people learn that it causes more harm than benefits. Polls on birdchannel.com showed that in 2008, 40% of bird owners always kept their pets' wings clipped, but now only 26% do. Here is an anti wing-clipping article I found that I think makes a lot of good points: Aubrie's Animals

This is a touchy subject with all sorts of opinions.. I have ALWAYS had my feathered friends clipped,except Wally,my 'keet I had when I was 14 :52:

When I got Amy at 16 weeks,she was fully feathered,I took her to her doc's for a wellness check but didn't have her clipped. She COULD fly,but preferred to either WALK,lol,or ride on my arm or shoulder.

Once a year I have her clipped,usually in the spring/summer,thats when she goes outside with me,for rides in the car or walks or as she waddles through the grass munching on bugs and twigs,with me two feet away.
So,by the end of summer and into fall,her feathers start to grow,and by the time its too COLD to go out anyway,she can flap her arms off if she chooses.
When she does get clipped,the doc ALWAYS does it. I prefer her to do it than me,and she leaves four of the longest feathers on each arm. And if Amy gets frightened/spooked by something <she has in the past>she still gets lift,and if she is especially on top of her play pen when this happens,she doesn't fall like a rock.
She knows how to fly,but would rather not.

As far as The Cockatoo Man..even being clipped,he is such a light weighted little rascal,he still catches air and can go for five feet or so.
Just my 2 cents here...

Jim

 

[Peppo]

When I rescued Paco, he was fully flighted - cage bound, living in filth in a windowless pantry, with heavy moth eaten blankets on his cage. Since I have had him, he gets a mild clip, is out of his cage the vast majority of the time and enjoys every room of the house, gets healthy food, toys, love and interaction with the entire family. He goes outside, for rides, etc. I think he would choose the mild clip as the better of the two scenarios. I have had both clipped and fully flighted birds in my life. The choice is all about the individual bird.

 

[Doublete]

Regarding the paintings.

Train your bird. Have a play stand set up in a bird safe area and make sure the bird knows what is off limits.

 

[greytness]

Would the painting look good hanging in another room away from your grey?

 

[Mallory]

Something slightly off topic is being mentioned by the OP a few times. Please never allow more than 1-2 trustworthy dogs to interact with a bird at a time, and please do not rely on the bird being out of the dogs' reach or flighted. I know a local rescue who had a group of four usually very trustworthy dogs gang up on and kill an adult cat. None were large or particularly prey-driven breeds except for one senior dachshund in the mix, and even that dog was fine individually with cats. Dogs in "packs" - let's say groups of 3 or larger - tend to get overstimulated and can easily forget their training. Having seen this first-hand with my dogs and others' I can say I would never trust a group of dogs around a potential prey animal, and I would not tolerate them chasing or running after my parrot even behind barriers. This is encouraging a prey drive that likely will ultimately lead to the death of the parrot. Not every dog is able to control their prey drive with training either. One of my huskies (Katara) was raised by us to be very submissive to "prey" animals and we trust her with supervision. Our other husky Apollo ended up killing our beloved cat with a strict supervision policy and 6 months of training to negate his prey drive. It is never worth the risk!

Having said that...wing clipping is a totally personal decision! If you do not like the idea of living with a flighted bird and you and your parrot would have a better relationship if he was clipped, try it! He has already fledged and should not have issues if you change your mind later. And that's the nice thing about wing clipping - feathers grow back. Personally, my 3 parrots are clipped because I have only had them a short time and with adult birds I find the taming process easier and safer with them clipped. Even my Amazon who I have had the longest is only now molting so I will be making that decision soon. My starling also has a light clip which helps us get him back to his cage without stressing him out too much, as well as keeping him off our amazon's playstands. Despite not having a beak to climb with he has no issues getting around!

 

[RavensGryf]

Mallory, good observation about the dogs in "packs". Thanks for the info. and the heads up.

 

[Mimsy01]

I've heard this about dogs as well. I've seen some experts say it's not wise to leave dogs alone even with each other when it's a larger group of t hem. They should be kenneled separately when their owners are not home. They will sometimes attack one of their own group. I used to have 3 dogs and I can't imagine them every turning on each other. I did as a precaution always keep one in the mud room if I was going to be gone all day and all in their own kennel if it was a short time, just to be safe.

On the clipping-I think it's personal. I would rather see a bird clipped and out with it's family every day, then fully winged but caged all the time.