Do I clip his wings?

[clark_conure]

I'm happy things have settled down, and safety for clipped and for not clipped is taken into consideration on both sides. Both are a risk, heck owning a bird is a risk. I think the owner has the best intentions and can make the best choice.

I've seen a lot of maturity from people i was like...seriously? It depends on everyones circumstance, other pets, accommodations, ceiling fans and doors and windows etc.

 

[YUMgrinder]

I'm happy things have settled down, and safety for clipped and for not clipped is taken into consideration on both sides. Both are a risk, heck owning a bird is a risk. I think the owner has the best intentions and can make the best choice.

I've seen a lot of maturity from people i was like...seriously? It depends on everyones circumstance, other pets, accommodations, ceiling fans and doors and windows etc.

Nothing wrong with some maturity... If you meant immaturity and you were referring to me, you can go ahead and sit on it. I was trying to lighten the conversation before I got berated for clipping my birds.

Good point with the ceiling fans, I do have them, I do use them, and I do NEED them in the summer. Even right now, barely spring, and my apartment hovers at 80 when it's only 60 out. Doesn't make any sense to me. Anyways, ceiling fans are so easy to forget about when letting your birds out, and although I haven't had any emergencies with them, there has been close calls when their flight feathers made their way in without me noticing.

Just for the record, I love watching my birds fly, I wish it were in the cards for them to be free flighted, I have only had them a year, so it could be in the cards later when I am more confident in letting them wander further away.

 

[LordTriggs]

let's all take a moment to chill here. What it comes down to is safety of all concerned, "convenience" doesn't matter, if we wanted convenient we wouldn't have birds let's be honest. I personally would be far too paranoid with a clipped bird outside but I'm paranoid, I know some people do fine with it but I don't want to be that 1 person who loses their bird. If it's in best interests of all for him to be clipped then that's the answer, just try training first because things could well be better for all if he learns, but if he doesn't learn and remains troublesome what do you lose?

 

[Anansi]

Having a wing clip absolutely impairs a bird's ability to fly. There is no debating that. It's just that it is important to note that impaired ability does not equal complete loss of ability. So just to clarify for the whole clipped bird outside portion of this debate (which, as an aside, is completely outside of the original theme of this thread... lol), I'll put it like this: Does getting a wing clip make it less likely that your bird will get sufficient lift to get very far from you? Yes. But does this wing clip make it impossible for your bird to get the necessary lift to get far enough away from you to get lost? Absolutely not. An ill-timed gust of wind or a sufficiently motivated bird is all it would take. (Keep in mind, btw, that I'm assuming we're talking a proper clip, here, and not a butcher job. I've seen clips that make birds drop like stones, but I'm sure no one here would be advocating one of those.)

Now all that said, if someone understood those risks and still decided to take their bird outside because they are clipped - that's their choice. I would just hope that the proper training precautions (exhaustive recall training, for example) are taken beforehand... much the same as I'd hope in the case of a fully flighted bird being taken out for free flight.

As for the OP, I hope we'll get to hear an update from you on how the turn-based training is going for you and your flock.

 

[LordTriggs]

Having a wing clip absolutely impairs a bird's ability to fly. There is no debating that. It's just that it is important to note that impaired ability does not equal complete loss of ability. So just to clarify for the whole clipped bird outside portion of this debate (which, as an aside, is completely outside of the original theme of this thread... lol), I'll put it like this: Does getting a wing clip make it less likely that your bird will get sufficient lift to get very far from you? Yes. But does this wing clip make it impossible for your bird to get the necessary lift to get far enough away from you to get lost? Absolutely not. An ill-timed gust of wind or a sufficiently motivated bird is all it would take. (Keep in mind, btw, that I'm assuming we're talking a proper clip, here, and not a butcher job. I've seen clips that make birds drop like stones, but I'm sure no one here would be advocating one of those.)

Now all that said, if someone understood those risks and still decided to take their bird outside because they are clipped - that's their choice. I would just hope that the proper training precautions (exhaustive recall training, for example) are taken beforehand... much the same as I'd hope in the case of a fully flighted bird being taken out for free flight.

As for the OP, I hope we'll get to hear an update from you on how the turn-based training is going for you and your flock.

couldn't agree more, I think the best anyone here can do is educate people one every side of clipping both for and against as mature debate should be done and allow a parront to decide for themselves. Much like with humans there's rarely a wrong answer. I definitely think a thread someone highlighting pros and cons of clipping might be an idea so people can link it in future clipping topics with addendum's placed regarding certain species with unique reactions to clipping like alexandrines. I think possibly some on both sides of the eternal debate need to remember to leave judgement aside as let's be honest it never helps

 

[clark_conure]

YUMgrinder I wasn't referring to you at all. about 2-3 months ago there was a huge debate over this and...I'm just glad everyone is peaceable now.

 

[FlyBirdiesFly]

So you must have been referring to me. All I want is for everyone’s birds to live the best possible lives, and I promote flight as part of that.
Glad the debate is over.

 

[clark_conure]

So you must have been referring to me. All I want is for everyone’s birds to live the best possible lives, and I promote flight as part of that.
Glad the debate is over.

I conveniently forget, you know the old saying....everything on the internet eventually is deleted and lost forever.


You're cool

 

[AkridChaos]

Oh my lord, I wasn’t trying to cause a debate here. I was looking for valid answers and advice about Warbeak and the fact he was chasing after Lily like hellfire. Wanted to know if there was any possible way for him to get along with the little ones, or at least tolerate them, if anyone had any training tips for that, or if ultimately I had to clip him to stop that because there’s no training methods for that, or if he had to be clipped during training and then let his wings grow back once he “gets it”. I’m glad the throat slashing has calmed down. Already said I was going to try the turned based training with Warbeak, with a PARTIAL CLIP, to help take preventative measures of chasing Lily across the room. Once he “gets it” he can be fully flighted again. Going to start in on that recall training too, for all the fids.

 

[LordTriggs]

oh no, it wasn't a debate opened by you. This debate will never go. I completely agree if he's attacking the others then yeah he gotta be stopped and being used to clipped wings it just resets the status quo. Hopefully the training works out for you and the flock can be a more unified group

 

[YUMgrinder]

My apologies clark.