Severely clipped wings

[Gizmomania]

I'm so mad. My baby GCC's wings have been so severely clipped before I got him that he can barely keep his balance. He keeps falling to the bottom of the cage, and struggles trying to get from point A to point B. This is so very disheartening, especially knowing that there's not a thing that can be done to help him, except for time.

My two duskies also came severely clipped, and it took a good year for them to grow out their flight feathers. This caused Nico to remain clumsy for a good 6-8 months.

 

[patch]

If it's such a severe problem, a good idea would be to keep your bird in a small cage. Or you could turn his cage into a circus and make some kind of net in his cage to catch him. That would be really cute, like your bird is learning to master the trapeze act. I don't know.

 

[Triplemoon]

I have had to pull the small cut ones before to get them to grow back. 6 wks and they were back. I hate when they get over cut. One of my GCC's has no tail feathers because he broke all his to the point we had to pull them to keep them from getting worse.

 

[Karigan]

For sure! Take down all high perches as well and put the food bowl lower in the cage. You can't stop him from climbing the cage, but you can make it pointless.

 

[Grinder]

What do you mean 'severely clipped'? Do you have pictures of the clipped wings. If your GCC is still young then he is naturally going to have balance issues. It looks like your GCC is literally just turning 2 months old - in which case I certainly wouldn't expect him to have great balance. He is probably still learning to perch.

 

[Pajarita]

If you have old molted primaries from your dusky and a good avian vet, you could try imping.

 

[Gizmomania]

It looks like too many of his flight feathers have been clipped. More than 5 were cut from each wing.He'll flap to try to help with his balance, but it doesn't seem to help him. I'm sure his immaturity is a factor, but the wing clipping seems excessive to me.

While I'm on the subject of wing clipping, both my duskies have FINALLY grown out their flight feathers. However, they don't have any interest in flying unless they've been spooked. Do they have to be taught, or will they eventually figure it out on their own?

 

[MikeyTN]

That's not called severe clip! That is actually the proper way to clip without letting them fly. The severe clip is if they clipped all the primaries plus secondaries all the way to the body which I've seen before. It will molt out. That does NOT impact on balance issues!!!!

 

[Gizmomania]

So, when I spread out his wing, over half of his feathers have been cut back.

 

[HalfInsane]

A picture would make it easier to judge, but it sounds like a fairly normal clip.

Your conure is only 2 months old, fully feathered or not, they are ALWAYS clumsy at that age. Birds don't use their wings to balance when they're climbing/perching (although very unstable young bird may droop the wings slightly when perching to somewhat increase balance, but having flight feathers won't make much difference in this regard).

My old lovebird (fully flighted, never clipped) and my senegal (same clip as it sounds like your GCC has), were both VERY clumsy when I first got them. And both improved dramatically and could climb and perch properly in the first couple months. Just keep his perches low in the mean time and give him some time to learn

 

[SoCalWendy]

Isn't there a clip that can be done that doesn't make the bird fall like a rock. Something where they can helicopter to the ground. I hate Rio and Kiwi's clips. Kiwi came to me with a baby clip, but then I was going out of town I had a friends come and take care of my animals, so I had them clip the rest. Big mistake.... She too fall like a rock and its so sad to watch, because they try and fly so they won't fall. What else can one do if they want their wings clipped, just not so drastically.

 

[MikeyTN]

This is with half of the wing clipped on a cockatiel!

 

[Karigan]

This shows the clip my birds have. They glide no problem, but can't gain any lift. Kito has had it for 2 years with no problems. You leave outside two feathers intact (makes it look nicer too) and clip as many as needed beyond that, judging the weight and body type of your bird. After the long two feathers, I cut three feathers on either side and tested the cut. Then I proceeded to clip one feather on each side until I had the result I wanted. The feathers closest to her body are untouched.

Keep in mind with this pic that she's in mid-flap, so the cut is much straighter than it looks

 

[Gizmomania]

Thanks to all. From what everyone has said, it looks as though his clipping was actually done to standard. The rock drop has always bothered me. I envisioned that there had to be a way to clip less so the bird had more control going down.

 

[Karigan]

There is; mine don't fall like stones

 

[Mayden]

Thanks to all. From what everyone has said, it looks as though his clipping was actually done to standard. The rock drop has always bothered me. I envisioned that there had to be a way to clip less so the bird had more control going down.

Babies suck at flying and balance. He is only a teeny baby! He'll be all bumbling and stuff, give him a chance to gain some balance.

 

[MikeyTN]

Like its been mentioned, there is other types of clip. But yours isn't butchered. No need to worry as the molt will be here before you know it. Remember never take the bird outside if your on the glide clip! Unless your using a harness.

 

[U2gal]

Maybe feather imping can be a possibility for your GCC?

 

[Karigan]

I hear imping is a very expensive process and not many vets are qualified.

 

[U2gal]

Avian vets should be qualified.

It isn't terribly pricey

Personally I'd imp rather than let a poor fledgling baby bird be with a wing clip if it bothered me that much.

Babies shouldn't be clipped until they're well beyond weaned. And a light clip should be done, if any.

Poor baby