Clipping Rant

[Kenzie]

Can I rant? I cannot really vent this to anybody I know IRL other than my boyfriend and non-bird people (what's the point, then, really?).

Every time I have a flying-related issue or even some attitude issue, my co-workers (I work at a local-business pet store with large bird department), and even my bosses insist I clip my birds! NO! If I wanted to do that because it would somehow fix the dang issues (SPOILER ALERT! IT WON'T!), don'tcha think I would have done that?

It's such a disgusting mentality, in my opinion, to constantly recommend clipping for any little issue!

Do you guys feel my pain?

End rant

 

[Birdbabe]

I do. My birds are not clipped, they're birds, meant to fly. People ,clip to " tame ", to have bird "depentant" on them, to keep bird from " getting into things",,,I disagree with clipping...if you had the most beautiful thing as the gift of flight, ..would you want your wings clipped?

 

[Farlie]

I do too.
Unfortunately, my Farlie was clipped as a baby but now he is just starting to fly for the first time in his life and he is getting a bit independent now as well. I mean, when I asked him if he wanted to go to the kitchen with daddy to get a coffee refill, he turned his head and took a few steps farther from me. I couldn't believe it! Shocked! A real jaw dropper! So, I left him standing there...

 

[Zara]

It is the same on social media. Ignorant selfish humans looking for a quick answer regardless of the consequences. And when you try to educate them about not clipping.... the same response, I´m sure you know it.... ¨but it doesn´t hurt them¨ - infuriating!

@Lady Jane had a good thread about this recently: Part 2 - Parrots & Flight | Avian Avenue Parrot Forum

I commented there too, I am against clipping. But I would never judge anyone with a clipped bird, especially since some breeders and pet stores clip without asking first.

5 of my 6 are able to enjoy their right of flight and have never had to suffer the experience of being clipped. I do not know about Aldora, but I really hope not.

Personally the worst clipping is not the babies, but the adult birds who have been fully flighted, and then suddenly clipped. It hurts to even think what a bird like that goes through.

 

[Kenzie]

It is the same on social media. Ignorant selfish humans looking for a quick answer regardless of the consequences. And when you try to educate them about not clipping.... the same response, I´m sure you know it.... ¨but it doesn´t hurt them¨ - infuriating!

@Lady Jane had a good thread about this recently: Part 2 - Parrots & Flight | Avian Avenue Parrot Forum

I commented there too, I am against clipping. But I would never judge anyone with a clipped bird, especially since some breeders and pet stores clip without asking first.

5 of my 6 are able to enjoy their right of flight and have never had to suffer the experience of being clipped. I do not know about Aldora, but I really hope not.

Personally the worst clipping is not the babies, but the adult birds who have been fully flighted, and then suddenly clipped. It hurts to even think what a bird like that goes through.

Yes! It's just exhausting to keep answering the same things as well with my answers. I'm not sure why I try to keep them nice, either.

Poptart is a pet store bird who was clipped. He is already so independent and I hate that I have to be his little elevator and take him everywhere when he doesn't want me to. I cannot wait for his flight feathers to come in!

 

[Lady Jane]

@Kenzie please rant away. I used to work for Purina and was stationed at a large Petco store. There were employees that took care of the birds. I use the word care tongue and cheek. I wont even call it clipping because it is cutting. The policy of Petco was to cut the flight feathers so the birds would not get loose and fly up on the roof tresses. When I say cut I mean cut. These people were not trained in the process at all.

Actually both my budgies had their young baby flight feathers cut by the breeder before fledging. It took just about one year for regrowth. When trying to fly they both hit the ceiling for a while, not understanding the process of flight. I asked the breeder NOT to do this but he also said "its my policy". I am sorry to offend anyone but a human who picks up a tool to cut flight feathers is acting selfishly. They are not thinking of the birds welfare at all. Usually the excuse is safety of some sort but we all know its best to make the room the bird will be flying in safe and not the bird.

 

[JLcribber]

Absolutely.

 

[PoukieBear]

It breaks my heart when I see birds with absolutely NO flight feathers, who try to fly and end up dropping to the ground like a rock. People think that by clipping all those flight feathers, they are saving the bird from injury. Your NOT, you're making it worse! Falling can cause so many injuries that no one even bothers to think about. Now think about that poor bird falling over and over and over again until they moult? ugh.

Having said that, most of my new bird parents do request that their new birds be clipped. I only clip 2, sometimes 3 flights. The birds are still able to fly, and build up those much needed flight muscles and still have the freedom they deserve. However, the slight clip does slow them down a bit. Going to new homes is scary, especially when a bird doesn't know the new territory. Slowing down the flight can and will save a bird from injury if they happen to fly into a window, door, mirror, walls....
You'll never see one of my birds unable to fly, or flutter to the ground like a sad potato. They can all fly, some just slower than others.

 

[SandraK]

I hate to say it but I have had a couple of birds' wings given a show clip. It didn't stop anybirdy from flying but it took a little more effort to fly and avoided the fly-by attacks. Sun Tikki, Quaker JJ and gcc Beni et al (not all of them).The gccs are so light that it barely affected them at all. Tik & JJ just made more noise flapping so we could tell when they were coming.

 

[PoukieBear]

I hate to say it but I have had a couple of birds' wings given a show clip. It didn't stop anybirdy from flying but it took a little more effort to fly and avoided the fly-by attacks. Sun Tikki, Quaker JJ and gcc Beni et al (not all of them).The gccs are so light that it barely affected them at all. Tik & JJ just made more noise flapping so we could tell when they were coming.

What's a "Show Clip"? I don't think i've ever heard of that before.

A slight clip on the budgies hardly affects them either, since they are so light. They just require a little more effort There is a right way and a wrong way to clip your birds wings, if you're going to do it at all.

 

[Crazy4parrots]

Baylee have a show clip and that's because she have a disability that won't allow her to properly fly.

 

[Birdbabe]

@PoukieBear , a "show clip " is leaving the first two or three flight feathers so when the birds wing is in it's normal position against the body, you see a " flighted" bird that actually isnt..I adopted a tiel with a show clip, couldn't wait for her to moult and grow those wings!

 

[Tazlima]

I've often thought that the biggest problem with clipping is that it's so... dang... easy.

Any idiot with a pair of scissors can do it if they have a mind to. It takes no time at all, costs nothing, doesn't cause immediate pain or bleeding that might make someone hesitate (seriously, people worry more about trimming a pet's nails for fear of hitting the quick), and yields instantaneous results. Your bird could fly before... now it can't. "Problem" solved.

Not only that, but a lot of vets treat clipping as perfectly normal and even expected. My first vet visit with my bird, the tech casually asked, "would you like the nails and wings trimmed today?" Not "nails OR wings." Nails AND wings." - A small-yet-massive difference, and this was at a highly respected avian practice.

With that list of "benefits," it's no surprise people resort to it so readily. It takes about five seconds to do damage that will take months or years to repair... damage that, to people who have never spent time with flighted birds, is almost completely invisible. After all, a clipped bird can socialize. It can flap for exercise and climb around to get from point A to point B. It plays with toys. It eats food with gusto. If that same bird were a human toddler, one would say it had a great life. For people unfamiliar with the alternative, looking at a clipped bird is like browsing someone else's pantry to plan a grocery list. They don't know what's not there, because it's not there.

Compare this to declawing cats. It's expensive. You can't do it at home; you have schedule an appointment, then fast the kitty, then drop her off at the vet and pick her up a day or two later. Then you have to see your poor kitty bandaged, bleeding, and in pain... guilt piled on top of guilt.

The end result is that people who get one cat declawed are less likely to declaw the next, and before they even do ONE declawing, they're more likely to do a bit of research, at least a google search, to see if it's really worth the money... research that will immediately yield a list of downsides to declawing that they might not have considered. Finally, many vets actively discourage declawing and some flat-out refuse to do it at all.

 

[taxidermynerd]

When I got Chirp, he was clipped. I can only assume he was clipped as a baby because I had to play mama bird and teach him to fly. At one point he nearly died by crashing into walls not once but twice and flying into the basement, and we had to take him to the ER. His chest was black and blue for a month. It was after he healed up that I said no more.

I had been reading about the pros and cons of wing clipping and decided the pros of having him flighted far outweighed the cons. I taught him to fly, by tossing him off my finger over my bed. Now he can fly as fast as any bird, a whirlwind of feathers and yelling. He is so much happier since he can fly.

I would never, ever clip a bird unless it was a last resort. I have seen cases where people have no choice but to clip for the safety of either the human or the birds when all other options have been exhausted. That is the only scenario where I would consider clipping.

 

[Tazlima]

... the pros of having him flighted far outweighed the cons...

I would never, ever clip a bird unless it was a last resort. I have seen cases where people have no choice but to clip for the safety of either the human or the birds when all other options have been exhausted. That is the only scenario where I would consider clipping.

This is pretty much where I am on the subject. Many years ago, I had clipped birds, because I didn't know better. As Maya Angelou so beautifully said, "I did then what I knew how to do. Now that I know better, I do better."

I view clipping as an absolute last resort, and not to be undertaken lightly, but I'm not going to say I would never do it under any circumstances. There are certainly some scenarios, where clipping is legitimately the best and safest option, particularly with birds who are handicapped in such a way that it's impossible for them to fly safely.

 

[Imogena]

The breeder I got Edgar from has very clear opinion. His advice to people who clip bird's wings is: cut your own legs and then see how happy you are. Harsh, but I get his point.
I'm against clipping although I understand that sometimes there are situations when it is just necessary last resort. I hope I will never have this kind of situation.

 

[Lady Jane]

Clipped Wings
Kathy LaFollett Wing Clipping 17 Flock Calls
I argued with myself for 3 months before clipping Butters' wings. She was young yet, fully fledged under our roof and at the ripe age of almost 2, a total handful. Not two hands full like Snickers, but nevertheless a hand full. Our vet strongly and kindly suggested a "conservative" clip. Which gives me pause here to remind us all that no man has the right to use words carelessly. Since when is cutting wings to remove flight abilities a conservative choice? But the term "conservative clip" does rest easier on the human mind.

But back Butters' attitude and the idea of a conservative clip being a solution. The real issue was my attitude and my control issues. She was being a fully flighted joyous and confident macaw. I was being impatient and wanting the quick fix. Alas, a quick fix is worth about as much. It's quick to remind me of my own selfish nature. So I took our joyous and confident ButterBean in for grooming, blood work and that "conservative clip".

I brought home an intimidated, confused and sad parrot. And I ached for her next molt to come in quickly. I cried for 2 days for what I had done to our girl. She was not our ButterBean until her next molt. I watched her confused heart and mind for a week. Her balance was off, her confidence removed and yes, she knew who brought this on her. Around the 9th day she found her way around her disability. And I watched her for months after fuss with the missing feather locations on both her wings. It was as though she were conjuring her body to create those feathers again. I tell you my experience for a parrot's perspective. I tell you this story because it is imperative, no matter the reasons, we understand that clipping wings is not to be taken lightly. It has a palpable impact on a parrot, no matter how they react and overcome their newly acquired disability. And make no mistake, this is a chosen disability we have brought on them.

There is no such thing as a conservative clip anymore than there is a pet parrot. There are real consequences for them physically and mentally. And yes they are quite adept at making do, and merging into their new normal. And yes, there are real reasons to do such a thing to a companion parrot. There are times and lifestyles that require it for their own health and safety. I make no argument against those times. I make an argument against the idea that it is no big deal and that it somehow magically keeps them safe and easily found if they are lost outside.

What happens when we remove flight, or partial flight feathers from our parrots via a clipping?

Balance is affected. And balance creates confidence. Confidence creates trust. And trust builds our relationships with our companion. Clipping wings is not a way to "bond with your parrot". It's a way to control our parrot so that it's easier to get them to do what we perceive as bonding. Which is simply obedience via no choice.

If our companion isn't flying, our companion isn't using the main element of mobility that their biology and physiology evolved to utilize. Muscle atrophy, affected metabolism, less demand on the respiratory system as it was built for, comes into play. We hamstrung a flying being who's body was structured to fly. They will become weaker.

There are discussions on both sides of the science fence on whether fully flighted parrots are healthier and have stronger immune systems. I tend to the example of humans and exercise. Humans who use their bodies as fully intended by their structure are healthier than humans who do not use their bodies as intended. It's 2017, sitting is the new smoking. I believe fully flighted parrots are healthier, stronger and have a stronger immune system than those who can not fly. I absolutely believe this idea inside the context of young parrots being allowed to fledge and fly for a few weeks before being clipped for the first time. Much like a baby being allowed to cry, to strengthen their lungs, diaphragm and respiratory system as a whole.

All this being said, if clipped wings are in your bird's lifestyle, then it is important to compensate that lost mobility and exercise with more nutrition, more ways for physical activity through deeper enrichment. I am not writing an indictment of wing clipping and those that choose the practice. I am writing a reminder to all that clipping wings is not a small agenda item. This is to be approached with a seriousness toward our companion's nature, personality and life quality.

Clipped wings do not mean your companion can not fly. They will find a way to gain airspace. But clipped wings on a companion that has "gotten out" and is now lost leaves a defenseless parrot. Some wing clips will cause a parrot to look injured in flight. A predator will pick up the idea that there is an easy meal. A companion with clipped wings lost outside will do their best to fly, and they will be vulnerable doing it.

A fully flighted parrot lost to the outside has mobility and escape on their side, and are no longer on a certain rung of the food chain. And yes, I've experienced one of my fully flighted parrots getting outside, twice. Kirby flew down from his tree with some coaxing and command work, and a banana. I know the terror. But I am glad he was fully flighted. Had he not been, the local cats would have had lunch, I have no doubt.

Clipping wings is a control choice. No more no less. It is rarely a choice for the benefit of a parrot. Our relationship with our companion requires we be honest about the clipping wings choice, and at the very least see it for what it is, and compensate to the best of our abilities for doing it to them. We are literally removing their very nature by doing it. We must respect that impact. It is 2017. We know round cages are horrible. We know sunflower seed only diets are a death sentence. We know peanuts can cause illness. We know parrots are self aware. We know parrots are not pets. We know so much, and are learning more every day through the sciences and the power of the internet. It's time our words and actions get updated as well.

I support the safety and lifestyle security found through clipping wings. I do. I support not clipping and delivering safety and lifestyle security through other avenues, as we do here in our home with our 8 companions. This is a very personal issue, and at times a point of contention. I choose to speak for the voice of the companions and set the humans point aside. After all, it's they who must modify and find a way to live without, not us.

Author

Kathy LaFollett

 

[hrafn]

I totally feel you. I constantly get 'well-meaning' suggestions from people who see the damage my parrots do, telling me that I should clip them so that they wouldn't be able to get around as easily. And when Taco had his bad accident, you would not BELIEVE how many people were actually furious with me for not clipping him, as doing so would supposedly have prevented the whole disaster.

Like, first of all, they're supposed to tear things apart. That's play, it's fun, it's what I have all the wood there for. Secondly, Taco isn't even fully flighted since he plucks, and he still made it far enough to hit the wall; if he'd known how to fly, he might have been able to brake. It's so absurd.

When people bring up the subject of clipping with me now, I compare it to me cutting off their fingers; sure, you still have your hands, and you have your legs to get around, but fingers are an extremely important part of the human body, and allow us to manipulate objects in the way nature intended us to. We evolved into the animals we are today largely because of our fingers. In the same way, birds have wings because they were made to fly, and that is an ingrained part of them that cannot be ignored. Disfiguring them for the sake of our convenience is diabolical.

 

[SandraK]

What's a "Show Clip"? I don't think i've ever heard of that before.

A slight clip on the budgies hardly affects them either, since they are so light. They just require a little more effort There is a right way and a wrong way to clip your birds wings, if you're going to do it at all.

I've often thought that the biggest problem with clipping is that it's so... dang... easy.

Any idiot with a pair of scissors can do it if they have a mind to. It takes no time at all, costs nothing, doesn't cause immediate pain or bleeding that might make someone hesitate (seriously, people worry more about trimming a pet's nails for fear of hitting the quick), and yields instantaneous results. Your bird could fly before... now it can't. "Problem" solved.

Not only that, but a lot of vets treat clipping as perfectly normal and even expected. My first vet visit with my bird, the tech casually asked, "would you like the nails and wings trimmed today?" Not "nails OR wings." Nails AND wings." - A small-yet-massive difference, and this was at a highly respected avian practice.

With that list of "benefits," it's no surprise people resort to it so readily. It takes about five seconds to do damage that will take months or years to repair... damage that, to people who have never spent time with flighted birds, is almost completely invisible. After all, a clipped bird can socialize. It can flap for exercise and climb around to get from point A to point B. It plays with toys. It eats food with gusto. If that same bird were a human toddler, one would say it had a great life. For people unfamiliar with the alternative, looking at a clipped bird is like browsing someone else's pantry to plan a grocery list. They don't know what's not there, because it's not there.

Compare this to declawing cats. It's expensive. You can't do it at home; you have schedule an appointment, then fast the kitty, then drop her off at the vet and pick her up a day or two later. Then you have to see your poor kitty bandaged, bleeding, and in pain... guilt piled on top of guilt.

The end result is that people who get one cat declawed are less likely to declaw the next, and before they even do ONE declawing, they're more likely to do a bit of research, at least a google search, to see if it's really worth the money... research that will immediately yield a list of downsides to declawing that they might not have considered. Finally, many vets actively discourage declawing and some flat-out refuse to do it at all.

I don't clip my birds' wings myself, our groomer does it. As well as nails and beak trims. I've got 3 tiels with damaged beaks that need a trim every 2 weeks.

As for the cat declawing that is a sore spot with me. One BIL's GF adopted a cat, signed the adoption agreement (which specified the cat could not be declawed) and handed the cat to my BIL for him to take the cat to be declawed. The other is a DIL who, once the young cat started climbing the curtains stated on FB that it was time to get him declawed. James (my eldest) & I both disagreed were shot down with the "it's safe and my family has always had our cats declawed". I'm 64 and since childhood we have had 1 declawed cat - George - a stray Maine Coon we took in. A friend a long time ago had her cat declawed and I remember very clearly what her paws looked like. So I won't have pristine furniture and some curtains may be worse for wear but if we ever get a cat again, it will be happy and fully nailed.

 

[BertAllen]

Well Tinker is a fully flight F18! He loves flying, diving under the table and screeching as he goes. He flies every morning till he is panting then settles down for the day.
It has also made him very independent and will walk away from me when he needs to go back into his cage mid morning. He has started to not recall even for his favorite treats. He is the one that decides what he wants to do now.

This stubborn 11 month old attitude has made me threaten to clip his wings if he doesn't comply. I even threatened to sell him to KFC but to no avail he just flies away. LOL

I will never clip him!
Flying is what makes him what he is. A PITA LOL.