Emma will remain fully flighted.

[birdlvr466]

I have nothing to add to that Saemma, I am glad you arent going to clip her. Now you know with our birds flighted we have to be even more careful but as I am typing this I want to say if you have birds PERIOD, you have to be careful. It annoys me to no end when people think they have an extra measure of saftey because their birds are clipped. It is without a doubt that Emma having her full flight ability saved her life.

 

[BamaBirdMom]

Emma is fully flighted. During Emma's escape my mind raced around a lot and went through continuous anguish.
I kept questioning my decision about having allowed her to stay fully flighted, Not because I thought it would prevent her from escaping, but more because I wanted to prevent her from having so much lift and going too far. At one point, I was feeling so discouraged that I told myself that if I ever had the chance to see Emma again, I would resort to having her feathers trimmed. That would have been a VERY bad decision
Now that she is home, it is quite clear in my mind that being FULLY Flighted permitted Emma to survive the outdoors and the unknown. I believe being fully flighted allowed her to seek suitable shelter to sleep as well as the ability to escape from any dangerous situation. I have no intention of ever clipping Emma. She seems well, unharmed and even untraumatized by her 2 day trip. I am pretty proud of her for taking care of herself when she was alone in the world.
She did not escape because she is fully flighted, she escaped because of my carelessness.

This question was in my mind...didn't want to ask, but I'm so glad to see that you are deciding to keep Emma's feathers intact. I believe you are correct in your assumption that being fully flighted allowed her to not only survive, but to fly to the kids who rescued her. Good choice!

 

[Love My Zons]

I am glad you are not clipping her. I think alot of us have come to the realization even moreso since Emma got out to re-evaluate our living situations with our flighted birds.

I know I have and tonight while Dave was in and out while grilling, all the boys were secure in their cages and this will be a routine from here on out.

 

[JLcribber]

She did not escape because she is fully flighted, she escaped because of my carelessness.

And I'm 100% positive your never going to be careless like that ever again. One accident teaches us more than a lifetime of lecturing. There is no finer school than the school of hard knocks.

Your much wiser today than you were a few days ago my dear. Two thumbs up.

 

[akijoy]

I agree with you wholeheartedly. Emma was able to brave the winds and maneuver where she needed to because she had her flying skills.

There's no doubt that having a clipped bird makes life so much easier. Half the havoc I live with would be alleviated if my 3 birds were clipped, but there's something irresisitibly magical about living with flighted birds. Watching them makes me wish I were flighted. Why would I want to bring them down to my level, earthbound?

 

[BraveheartDogs]

And I'm 100% positive your never going to be careless like that ever again. One accident teaches us more than a lifetime of lecturing.

The thing is that I think all of us on here who love Emma have learned a lesson too.

 

[JLcribber]

The thing is that I think all of us on here who love Emma have learned a lesson too.

ABSOLUTELY!!!

 

[ncGreyBirdLady]

Behind You 100% on Your decisionGive Sweet Emma scritches for Me!

 

[itzmered]

I fully agree with your decision. She needed those flights and the muscles to use them and was fortunate enough to have such a wonderful parront that allowed her that ability.

 

[Prince Toasty Buns]

Wise decision.

Ditto.

 

[expressmailtome]

I am glad that you are confident in your decision! You are a great mother!

Matt

 

[Cory]

That's it! We all need double doors and windows. In all seriousness though I'm sure we have all learned from this experience to be as careful as possible.

I was so tortured by Emma's escape, that I admit I thought of clipping Rocky and Koko---but I won't, they're too happy and I don't want to take that away from them. But boy oh boy will I ever be even more diligent and careful with them now I do not ever want to go through what you two endured.

There's nothing wrong about thinking about things. As long as we do what we believe is in the best interest of the birds in the end.

And I'm 100% positive your never going to be careless like that ever again. One accident teaches us more than a lifetime of lecturing. There is no finer school than the school of hard knocks.

Your much wiser today than you were a few days ago my dear. Two thumbs up.

This is very true. Well said John.

 

[Saemma]

I was so tortured by Emma's escape, that I admit I thought of clipping Rocky and Koko---but I won't, they're too happy and I don't want to take that away from them. But boy oh boy will I ever be even more diligent and careful with them now I do not ever want to go through what you two endured.

 

[Archiesmom]

I'm relieved that Emma is back in your care, and that you have decided to allow her to remain fully flighted after this ordeal

 

[Merlie]

Saemma ...

I commend you on your decision. Keeping flighted birds is ... well .. to be honest, a challenge. However, keeping birds as pets, keeping them "properly" I should say, is a challenge in and of itself.

You know I have the "3-tier" system in my house .. lol .. the constant going up and down 2 sets of stairs. Many of the people that come over to my house look at me like I'm insane. "You have a big enough living room, why not put all the birds in one room to make your life easier?".

Well, losing one of my birds to the outside wouldn't make my life easier, it would make my life miserable. Clipping my birds would make things easier of course, but I just know, as much as my birds love to fly, it would make them miserable. My main floor has way to many doors to the outside, and while I'm vigilant about them, accidents/brief lapses of memory/whatever can happen.

People who have small children go to great lengths to "child proof" their home. It's not always easy, it's not always convenient, but for the safely of their children, they do it. My birds are my children, so that's how I look at it, and that's exactly how I explain to those that come over and question my system. I often say "If you forgot to lock up a cabinet, and your toddler got into bleach, or some other toxic substance, would you remove your child's ability to walk or use it's hand? It's the same thing to me.

I would love to be able to have the the birds in one room, unfortunately, I don't have one "safe" room big enough for all of them, and of course the terrorist two <Caiques> don't play nice with others.

I'm not saying that clipping is bad or good, I will NOT get involved in that discussion as I feel each person has a right to decide what is best in their own household. In my house, I can keep my birds flighted, with a little extra time and effort from me, and that time and effort is worth it.

Accidents happen. They happen to clipped birds, they happen to flighted birds, they happen to the best and most vigilant of parronts .. there is no guarantee that nothing bad will ever happen to our birds, no matter how "careful" we are. I've learned that lesson first hand and the hard way in my life.

Emma loves to fly .. you've raised her flighted. You now know how fast she can be and what to look out for.

Again, I applaud your decision to not clip Emma.

 

[Birdlover]

I am so happy to read this In addition to her being fully flighted though, you've also raised her to be comfortable around people and she saw even strangers as a way to get help. I think that went a long way in her coming home too

 

[Karen]

Now that she is home, it is quite clear in my mind that being FULLY Flighted permitted Emma to survive the outdoors and the unknown. I believe being fully flighted allowed her to seek suitable shelter to sleep as well as the ability to escape from any dangerous situation. I have no intention of ever clipping Emma. She seems well, unharmed and even untraumatized by her 2 day trip. I am pretty proud of her for taking care of herself when she was alone in the world.
She did not escape because she is fully flighted, she escaped because of my carelessness.

I couldn't agree more with your statement. Good on you!

 

[Gen120]

aww, what an awesome choice! I have no intention of ever clipping Sammy either. She seems soo much happier being flighted and I am overly cautious about her getting out. (which is a good thing). aww, where can I get those mayan crunch treats? (I think Sammy would like some). I will admit that I seriously thought about clipping my fids too, cause I was scared of them getting out, but then I realised how happy Sammy is and how much healthier she has been since being flighted.

 

[dorn27]

My clipped bird got away, she was on a light to medium clip, but she has a few of her very first primaries back in. And we faced serious problems with her out overnight. She was exposed to some really scary (maybe nighthawks?) predator birds over night. She had a very hard time flying down and steering in the large open areas. We were so lucky to get her back. I literally slept and sat in a lawnchair in the front yard of the tree I was fairly sure she was in. I wanted so badly to protect her from the hawks/owl that were in the area, but being 3 stories high there wasn't much I could do from the ground except cry.

Unfortunately we can't be 100% flighted here. Sunny (ironically my escapee) must be partically clipped or she becomes an agressive nightmare fid. All my scars from her occurred when she had most or all of her flights in. She has many triggers for biting, and they're 1000x's worse if she can fly. So I must keep about 5 feathers on each side trimmed. Not a full clip and she still gets around with some effort.

She actually flies better light clipped than Kupo does fully flighted. Kupo is a brick with wings.

I agree, no bird escapes because they're not clipped. Birds escape because of mistakes we make. But we, as a group and as a Parront, must learn and change our lifestyle so that they are not repeated.

 

[SDavies]

fab choice ! i loved your last line