To clip or not ?

[Boysmom]

Ruby is 1 year old and has had her first molt. Should I have her wings clipped ? They were originally clipped by the breeder, so she doesnt know what flight is like. I want to be able to take her outdoors without the worry that she may fly away and not recall back. I know I will probably get mixed feelings about the subject, but I would still like to weigh others thoughts on the matter.

Also, Dear Hubby wants to trim wings himself, but he has never done it before, so it concerns me. :red:

 

[jaimmorr]

There are many, many threads on just this subject. And you're correct, you will get many different opinions because it's a very controversial topic.

I am at this point as well. I bring home my G2 in a couple weeks and his wings are clipped right now. But I haven't decided if I'm going to keep them clipped or if I'm going to let them grow. I think I would really enjoy flight training and it's honestly better health wise for the bird IF you can make sure you take care of all the safety precautions.

You have to be able to trust your bird 100% outside (which most "average" owners can NOT do) or harness train your bird. Harness training is possible.

It just depends on how much work you can/want to put into it, IMO. If you don't want to train your bird/work with your bird a lot and take all the necessary precautions, I think you should clip. It's a lot to keep up with and a lot to think about/remember. You can never have windows open without screens, you have to make sure everyone knows when the bird is out so that no ceiling fans are turned on, no windows/doors are opened, etc. You have to train, train, train, and train some more. And, IMO, you have to have a very strong bond with your bird to be able to have it flighted.

If you can do all these things, by all means, keep her flighted! There are many health benefits and it will make her more confident and happy in the long run.

It's a personal opinion, honestly. Just weigh the pros and cons for your individual situation and see what you think. Good luck!

 

[mtdoramike]

Please understand that eventhough your birds wings maybe clipped, they can still fly a short distance and glide pretty well. I see ads every now and then where folks have lost their birds and when asked, they say that they had their wings clipped a few months ago. In reality it's probably more like 6-8 months ago.

On Eclectus or full bodied birds, Eclectus, African greys, Macaws, they do what is called a short cut or something similar to that where they only cut s few flight feathers because if they did a full cut, the bird could drop like a rock. If they hit their chest bone hard enough on the ground, it could break it or cause injury to the bird.

AND PLEASE DO NOT ALLOW YOUR HUSBAND TO CLIP THE BIRDS WINGS, if he doesn't know what he is doing, it could be disasterous. Plus if you do, make sure he has a container of Quick Stop on hand to stop any bleeding that there might be.

Oh, I might also add here, my birds wings are clipped and will always be clipped. I have lost a couple of birds due to not having their wings clipped out of open doors. I have also lost a Cockatiel that was riding on my shoulder and got spooked, flew from my shoulder straight into a wall breaking her neck. So I'm a firm believer in wing clipping and living in Florida, where there are such a problem with non-native exotic animal getting loose and creating a breeding population, I feel it's the responsible thing to do. If more owners kept better control of their pets, there wouldn't be such a problem in the first place.

 

[charliebrown]

I'm at the same point as you... Oliver is coming up on two and is finally growing in his flight feathers again. I have been working on harness training him for awhile now and making some progress with it. I would love to allow him to grow them out and have the freedom to fly around my home. I have vaulted ceilings and I think it would be absolutely amazing to see him flying around my living room. However my concerns are friends dropping by randomly and no following bird safety rules that me and my boyfriend would follow like closing toilet lids and making sure screen doors and so on are closed. Oliver enjoys coming out and visiting my friends and I would hate for him to not be able to because I couldn't trust them to keep the environment safe for him.

The other concern/problem is if I allow him to be flighted he could never ever go outside without his harness or he would have to be in a travel carrier. I personally wouldn't trust recall training. I know people have done it and it can be done but with a bird in the wild so to speak with free flight there are way too many variables....

All this being said we have decided to try it and if we have any problems or scary moments we are going to have him clipped again...

 

[MollyGreenCheeks]

My 2 cents and 2 cents only: Clip!

 

[pacoparrot]

I have a female elcectus also. I usually don't clip her unless I'm going to an event where she'll be on a stand all day. What I do instead for outdoors is I got her used to me holding onto her toes. That way she feels more secure and is less likely to jump and if she does you can not only feel her about to take off because you're holding her toes but you can anchor her. I was taught that technique by a macaw handler at a zoo with a flight enclosure. When they'd bring the birds out for a show they would just hold their feet. That way they could still utilize their flight aviary and also do the educational shows. I also don't trust recall training. It's just too scary counting on your pet to handle a bad situation(dogs, cats. hawks, etc.) by herself with you all the way on the ground and unable to help at all.

 

[Boysmom]

Thanks everyone, I have decided to clip ! As I have 3 teenage boys and a 10 year old plus their friends in and out of my house, I think clipping is the safest. They try to be cautious with closing doors and such, but they get in a hurry and forget. They would surely forget a ceiling fan was on. Safety first, so I am having the groomer come out for a clipping.

 

[wenz2712]

I will always keep my Amazons wings clipped, as I also have lost a Bird due to flying into a Window and breaking her neck! It is something I would not want to experience again!

 

[Boysmom]

The flying into something and getting seriously injured is my major concern. Ruby is beloved by the whole family, and an accident would be devastating. Let the clipping commence..

 

[SunConureboy]

Keeping her unclipped would be good because flight is important for a birds mental and physical health . But at the same time we don't want to risk our birds injuring themselves or flying away. At the end it's completely up to you and your preference towards the subject , if you trust your bird to always fly back leave her unclipped if you don't want to risk anything which everyone would understand , clip her
Hope i helped Abit for in the future.

 

[Oedipussrex]

I really don't like the idea of clipping, and never wanted pickle clipped. But the more i think about it, if he had been given the opportunity to learn to fly by the breeder before he was clipped (because i have no idea whether or not this happened) his problems may not be as bad.

but the more i focus on helping him grow his feathers back, the more i have been thinking about what i will do when this happens; and in reality, i think i would keep him clipped at least until i get my own place and can control more of the variables myself.

Simply put, my family has lived with a non-flighted bird for almost 2 years, and i wouldn't trust them to consistently and safely maintain the changes which would have to occur should he ever become flighted. and as he is already featherless he isn't missing out on anything if i continued to clip him anyway. :/

 

[DrewH]

Hector, our Ekkie, is clipped 4 feathers in. He was allowed to fully fledge and was a pretty darn good flyer before the clip. The 4 feathers allows him about 20 feet of level flight and about 4 feet of lift if say, he's taking off from the floor and going to his cage. In principle, I detest the idea of totally gimping birds because flight is an important part of their psychological and physical health. We find the partial clip like this gives us a bird that can still do what it naturally does but restrains it enough to prevent it from injuring himself in the house or getting far from the house should he escape. We are EXTRA cautious and never have the bird out of the cage when an exterior door is going to be open.

 

[BMac]

I was not going to have Piki, a rainbow lorikeet, clipped, but my vet convinced me it would be for the best and I'm so pleased I listened to her. Piki, Rocky and I were at the beach where we go several times a week. Piki had been clipped only a couple of days previously. While riding on my shoulder the heavy wind lifted him and he paniced and started flapping his wings. The wind gave him sufficient lift to fly even though clipped leaving only one flight feather. Before I could get him he flew the hundred metres to the beach and kept heading out to sea. I can't swim, but I was already in the water heading out. He was only a small dot and I knew I had lost him. But Rocky started barking and Piki slowly turned back towards the beach and me. With a tail wind now he lost his lift and started heading toward the water. He made the edge of the water, but hit the rocks and fell into a crevice. I couldn't find him, but Rocky did. He was out cold and I thought dead. He was soaked and half drowned. Straight to the vet who filled his lungs with clean water to wash out the salt and put his wing back into it's joint where it had been dislocated. Kept warm for a day and plenty of TLC he fully recovered. The vet said if he hadn't been clipped he would have probably kept going out to sea. And she does a beautiful job of clipping. You can't tell he's been clipped and he can still flutter down and not drop like a rock. Advise: when getting your bird clipped make certain a real expert does it. A good avian vet is worth her weight in gold.

 

[Didomum]

I have clipped and unclipped birds right now. But that's to change. I remember my mother always saying how she would never clip a birds wing until the day she lost 4birds in one day due to someone coming in and leaving the door open. Seeing her pain of the loss has made be feel that clipping is the best for us and the birds. My IRN was clipped by the breeder and I will use that would lightly. She was clip so hard that we have to go very careful she does not try to fly as she hits the floor hard. So it's not just if to have them clip or not it also getting the job done right. A good clip job should mean that they can still glide so to land safely. My Quakers have regrowth and can now fly again which means we have to be very careful being they have come to us totally untrained and working with them is hard and sometimes scary. I love seeing birds fly there is nothing more beautiful, but birds flying indoors is no joke. And just one forgetful moment door open they could be gone. And taking them out, it only takes one loud noise, or a excited child wanting to see your bird to put them to flight. But everyone has their own idea of what should and shouldn't be done.

 

[Boysmom]

Ruby was clipped by our vet right before we left for vacation. It was the BEST decision for her. She was on the beach with us , rode around the island on my sons bicycle handle bars, and met many new people. She kinda taunted my mom's minpin, dogs arent allowed on the beach, but birds are ! None of which would have been possible if her wings were not clipped. She has never flown, so it isnt a change for her. She is most happy to be anywhere we are , doing anything we do.

 

[mybabyIVAN]

I have a 1 year old sun conure. When i bought him from the pet store when he was a month old they clipped his wings before they would let me take him home. As he grew i never took him back to clip them. He has NEVER tried to fly away from me. Occasionally a sound or sudden movement will scare him and he will fly off, he flys in a circle and comes straight to my shoulder. That is just my situation....i've heard of many stories like mine and the bird flies away, you never know. The only reason i dont clip Ivans wings is because we let him fly in the house and also he has a encloser in the backyard where he can fly for exercise and fun! If you have something like that, or just plan on letting your bird fly inside then i dont see why you should clip them. You have to pay close attention to ceiling fans though...very dangerous

 

[echoskybound]

As far as taking birds outside, even a clipped bird can fly away if the wind picks them up. I used to take my bird outside when he was clipped as a baby, but then one day, something spooked him, and he took off, even though he was clipped! He flew about 20 feet, and I'm lucky he landed on a safe patch of grass. Those flight feathers might surprise you when they grow back in. I have a friend who lost a conure because the wings were clipped, but just a couple feathers grew back in, and that was enough for the bird to fly away. I would suggest trying a flight harness, and working on some recall training skills if you keep them flighted. Even a clipped bird will try to fly if something spooks them, and this could be dangerous because they might fall under your feet, into a drain, into a road, etc. It's best to use a harness for safety, clipped or not :]

There are good and bad arguments on both sides of the clip vs. no clip decision. Here are what I think are the pros and cons of clipping or not clipping:

Clipping pros: The bird will stay with you more, they're safe from dangers like flying into windows, mirrors, ceiling fans, other pets, flying out open doors/windows, and tons of other dangers. You'll always know where they are, since they can't fly off into another room.

Clipping cons: When a bird loses their "flight" they may choose "fight" when they are scared, which means they may be more aggressive. Every part of the bird's body is build around flight, including their metabolism - a clipped bird doesn't get as much exercise as flighted birds and may become overweight. Even a clipped bird may still try to fly if he's spooked, just because it's their instinct, and that may result in him falling and possibly breaking bones or blood feathers.

Flighted pros: Excellent exercise for the bird, great mental stimulation, and can allow them to escape from a situation the bird feels uncomfortable with. Lots of parrots really enjoy flying. My bird does laps around the room just for fun.

Flighted cons: Everything is dangerous. The bird can get into anything and you need to super bird-proof your house. It can also kind of be a pain to have a bird flying all over the house, especially when he decides to play "keep away"!

Both choices are good for your bird for different reasons, it's up to you. I choose to keep my bird flighted and I work on daily flight training (recalling, teaching him how to ascend/descend, etc) and he LOVES flying. It's great exercise and he's MUCH happier when he gets to fly a lot. I think that it's not a bad idea to clip a few feathers so that the bird can still glide, but can't really fly. They'll be able to fly a short distance so that they won't sink like a rock if they fall, because a severe clip can cause a bird to sink and break their keel bone.

My opinion would be to get a flight harness and keep her flighted. Flight training and recall is exciting for birds, but you do need regular training sessions to keep her in good shape. A great exercise is to get two people and a ladder (or a flight of stairs) - one person on top of the ladder and one at the bottom. Have the bird fly back and forth. Flying down will help the bird develop the precision and accuracy to descend - a lot of birds who fly away have no idea how to get back down, descending is one of the toughest flight skills. Flying up helps the bird develop muscle. Sometimes I put obstacles in the way so my bird has to learn to fly around things. It's fun!

 

[friedsoup]

The other options is to have her clipped and start harness training by the time he feathers grow out again you should have her wearing it without struggle and may I suggest an Aviator harness it comes with a DVD that shows how to work with your bird to accept the harness. thats it all I got to say hope it's helpful