Wing clipping questions....

[TonyCagg]

We just adopted an Eleonora Cockatoo. The woman at the rescue said he is a good flyer and his wings are clipped already, but suggested we have him in an Aviator Harness if he wish to take him outdoors.

My questions are:

1.) How many of you keep your birds wings clipped?

2.) Do you clip one or both wings? (When I was a zookeeper we always did just one, the imbalance of the wings helped prevent extended flights)

3.) Do any of you free flight your birds outdoors?

Thanks for the help....it is appreciated.

 

[Rio Mom]

I keep both of River's wings clipped.

 

[merlinsmom13]

Merlin is completely unclipped. We do not have him harness trained, would like to someday.

 

[CAGLulu]

Congrats with your bird .

1.) I do NOT clip my birds wings.

2.) None.

3.) I will begin training her free flight (with a harness first), when she will come to me 100% of the times I call her at home.

 

[suebee]

the vets here, even the avian one will not clip wings! so nut is fully flighted, but i will never attempt to take her outside unless she is harnessed!

an awww what a cute birdie you have an welcome

 

[mtdoramike]

My Senegal's wings have been clipped from day one or at least when it was needed. I hate to clip a birds wings once they have been able to fly about. To me it would break the spirit of the bird. So if I get a grown bird that has been fully lighted, I wouldn't clip it's wings.

I have lost a few birds to open doors and never to be seen again. Not to mention having a Cockatiel get spooked while on my shoulder and fly into a wall breaking it's neck.

 

[kerry]

Your new cockatoo is very attractive. I have always kept my birds wings clipped. I have heard of too many people who lost large parrots. I sometimes have small people at my house who might open a door. My Yellow Nape was clipped but has molted & her wing feathers have grown out. My new Red Fronted macaw has very minimally clipped wings because he was used to flying in an aviary outside. The usual number of feathers to clip is 8, from the outside tip of the wing, but for light, good flyers like a cockatoo, 10 is more usual. My vet just told me on Tuesday that there are no guarantees if you take your bird outside without being in a carrier, or having a harness on if they catch an updraft, they could take off.

 

[IcyWolf]

I clip both of our bird's wings. I would never clip only one wing as this can make the bird spiral down if they try to fly and they could severely injure themselves. A good wing clip will leave enough that the bird can still gently glide down and not drop like a rock if spooked into attempting flight, while not allowing them to get any lift. I was contemplating starting to do "show clips" but after reading up on it, it seems that this can cause too much negative pressure on the wing when the bird flaps so I decided against it. I would LOVE to start training in free flight if ziggy ever makes enough progress that I would feel comfortable attempting it, indoors of course!, I would then leave her wings unclipped. I had a 'too that would have been perfect for free flight, I could take her to parks, sit her on the ground and try to walk away and she would run screaming after me, she was a serious velcro bird that always wanted to be right with me, unfortunately she didn't know how to fly(she wasn't clipped, she just didn't understand how to fly lol). It's something that takes a ton of work, practice and a very good bond with your bird. If I ever started doing it, it would be indoors(probably in a gym) for a LONG time before I felt comfortable doing it outside, if ever. It's one of those things that's very risky, not only because of fly offs but because of power lines, natural predators, cars, etc.

 

[stephend]

1.) How many of you keep your birds wings clipped?

I was told when I got Bob that he was clipped. He has not molted sence. I do not plan on getting him clipped.

2.) Do you clip one or both wings? (When I was a zookeeper we always did just one, the imbalance of the wings helped prevent extended flights)

I had never heard of or considered clipping one.

3.) Do any of you free flight your birds outdoors?

Based on Bob's behavior I think I could get away with it, but have no intention of finding out. I am going to have a friend make a harness for Bob that will hopefully be better suited for him than the one I got him.

 

[MikeyTN]

I only clip IF the bird needed great amount of training, but even then it varies from bird to bird. Some birds are easily taught without having to clip. Other then that, I never clip my birds as I am against it as some can develop feather chewing problems because of it.

 

[ShreddedOakAviary]

I don't keep any of our birds clipped. We have 5 free flight trained birds...moe,sarah,cj,pepper,and miko now. We do start training with a harness.

For a while in the late 1980's and early 90's it was sort of popular in some sections of the country to clip one wing (there were a number of birds getting away from owners with "clipped wings"). What most people don't realize is that even clipped birds can get high into an tree if there is an adequate breeze. Clipping on wing stopped that, however.... we soon discovered that birds with one wing clipped were unable to stop themselves from a hard landing.... So... if you trim wings ALWAYS do both wings.

As for babies... birds do emotionally better if allowed to actually fledge... meaning if you want a sane and self reliant bird, make sure the breeder allowed it to master flight. It is not tramatic if the wings are then SLOWLY trimmed back by the breeder before the bird goes to it's new home. We trim five primary flight feather off each wing at a rate of one every other day. (Which is what I recomend if you are trimming any bird for the first time. Each later trim can be done all at once.)

 

[ShreddedOakAviary]

Speaking of feather chewing.... That's the reason I never trim toos.... after a trim it's like they forget or give up on preening their remaining primary flight feathers.

 

[ShreddedOakAviary]

As a courtesy I harness trainall our babies. I've seen a few other breeders do this as well.

 

[MikeyTN]

I don't keep any of our birds clipped. We have 5 free flight trained birds...moe,sarah,cj,pepper,and miko now. We do start training with a harness.

For a while in the late 1980's and early 90's it was sort of popular in some sections of the country to clip one wing (there were a number of birds getting away from owners with "clipped wings"). What most people don't realize is that even clipped birds can get high into an tree if there is an adequate breeze. Clipping on wing stopped that, however.... we soon discovered that birds with one wing clipped were unable to stop themselves from a hard landing.... So... if you trim wings ALWAYS do both wings.

As for babies... birds do emotionally better if allowed to actually fledge... meaning if you want a sane and self reliant bird, make sure the breeder allowed it to master flight. It is not tramatic if the wings are then SLOWLY trimmed back by the breeder before the bird goes to it's new home. We trim five primary flight feather off each wing at a rate of one every other day. (Which is what I recomend if you are trimming any bird for the first time. Each later trim can be done all at once.)

I so agree with letting the youngsters master flight before clipping! That's what I used to be when I raised birds years ago.

 

[oled]

1.) How many of you keep your birds wings clipped?

A am lucky to have a pro doing the wing trim so that Polly can flye about 8 meter in downgoing direction

2.) Do you clip one or both wings? (When I was a zookeeper we always did just one, the imbalance of the wings helped prevent extended flights)

No I trim both wings

3.) Do any of you free flight your birds outdoors?

I have Polly outdoor.
ASAP I will start train Polly using Aviator harnes

 

[HRH Di]

Our birdies are fully flighted. Max was clipped when we got him (very clipped and done badly). Once he molted and was able to fly again, he was a completely different bird...mostly for the better, but he's a little too independent now and then. We also fostered a U2 who wasn't clipped, just didn't like to fly. He fluttered now and then, but walked most places.

Clipping is a personal choice and you need to consider the safety of your family and bird. I do want to get harnesses for our birds, just don't know when that's going to haapen.

 

[birdmama61]

All of my birds are clipped both wings . I have heard too many horror stories about birds getting away from owners with open doors , ceiling fans and such and all of my birds have mastered flight so no problem there . So for me all of my birds are clipped for their safety .

 

[oled]

It is writhen in the litieatur that harnes can create problem with feather chewing

 

[kitt]

For the safety of my birds, they are all clipped....both sides and they wear flight suits for going outside.

 

[stephend]

It is writhen in the litieatur that harnes can create problem with feather chewing

I would not be surprised if that was true for extended use, but I would be willing to bet that 15-60min would be fine as long as you get your bird happily distracted through the majority of the time. If you just put the harness on and "let the bird get comfortable with it in his cage or something" as several dog owners have suggested to me I'm sure it would result in problems.