Macaws clipped wings

[BenThomson16]

Hey I recently went to my vet and he clipped my 16 week old macaws wing feathers she used to fly around the house a lot he clipped five of her primary feathers on each wing we messaged the breeder and the breeder said if you want the feathers to grow back quicker then pull them out so me and my mom we’re thinking that if we only pull out 4 in total maybe 2 a month just so that it’s not to much pain in a short time then she will maybe be able to fly again. She was born in September 2020 so I’m not sure when she is going to molt. Please if you guys don’t think that we should pull out any feathers then please let me know. And if you have any knowledge on when birds molt please reply

 

[SailBoat]

IMHO, 16 weeks is a bit early to trim a Macaw's flight feathers as their cardiovascular system is not fully developed. Limiting flight at this time in the Parrots development is something that I would have not recommended.

Pulling flight feathers will encourage the regrowth. BUT!!! it is painful and should never be done by anyone other than an Avian Medical Professional and at their clinic. Please understand that replacing large flight feathers use large amounts of energy stores, thus the diet of the Parrot is very important.

The danger of pulling flight feathers is that when new flight feathers grow in they have limited to no support from what feathers are around it and as a result a new feather (a blood feather) can become damaged and you will be rushing to an Avian Medical Professional to safe your Parrot from bleeding to death...

Large Parrots molt Flight Feathers over years and the molt is balance side to side and it also includes the tail feathers. So, when body feathers are molted near the transition between seasons, commonly Spring and Fall, flight feathers are molted over several years. Why? The goal is to assure that the Parrot can at all times fly.

With effort, can your Mac fly /glide safely to the floor?

 

[BenThomson16]

Hey I’m I got her age wrong she was about 17 weeks old when her wings were clipped and she is about 18 weeks old now

Yes she can fly down if she really wants to but she doesn’t fly everyday so now I have decided that I am going to try and start training her to climb from a perch to my hand and I am going to slowly increase the distance to the point where she does a short fly to my hand.

 

[BenThomson16]

What will happen happen to her cardiovascular system at the age of 17 weeks now that her wings have been clipped

 

[noodles123]

You want a bird to learn to fly and develop before you clip. It's a developmental thing. To develop breast muscles etc, they have to flap a lot (to learn to fly). Clipping to early can cause issues with balance and weaning and muscle/bone development - here is a link: https://parrotvolancy.com/wing-clipping-early-development..




I think pulling them out is a painful and mislead idea. I would not do that.


Developmentally, if your bird already could fly, you probably won't see major impacts.If he/she couldn't, I'd let them grow out. They are meant to fly--think of a person who sits all day for many years (never running or walking etc)---their muscles atrophy and their cardiovascular system is less fit..endurance goes down etc.

 

[SailBoat]

At this point, you need to get your Mac to activity Flap Its Wings!

With your Mac on your hand, walk safe flight paths from its cage out into the room and your home. The goal is to teach safe flight paths. After you have done that for a couple of days. Do the same thing, but this time, once on your hand, do a quick, short drop, just enough to get your Mac to Flap its wings for balance, and at the same time move down one of the paths so that your Mac continues to flap its wings! Keep repeating this until you begin feeling your Mac's flapping begin to lift your hand. This has your Mac's cardiovascular system (which includes its flight muscles) working!

Why is this important: Like stated by my good friend above, it is important to the overall health of your Mac. An underdeveloped cardiovascular system leads to Heart Problems and can lead to a serious shorting of their life span! Our Avian Medical Professionals are seeing Parrots with Heart issues as young as 15 years of age. Your Mac could live to 75+ years with a Healthy diet and cardiovascular system.

 

[Ira7]

She doesn’t go on your hand yet?

So don’t worry about her flying abilities.

First things first.

 

[BenThomson16]

Hey everyone thanks so much for your help. Sorry for the late reply. Yes my macaw could fly A lot before her wings were cut she used to fly from her stand to a perch in the kitchen which was about 12 meters in distance. She used to fly that distance more than 25 time a day.

She has started molting which I’m am very happy about. I think that means she will molt out her clipped feathers and then she will grow new ones. yaaaay

 

[Jottlebot]

It sounds like you didn't want you vet to clip her wings? Or did you just change your mind quickly afterwards? I would think about going to a new vet if they did it without consulting you or think about how clearly you communicate with them if it came from a misunderstanding. I don't know about you, but at first I found it a bit overwhelming to deal with vets, with time though amd experience I can now say when I disagree ��