Flight or No Flight

[Bunnygirl]

I'm looking into adopting a handicapped macaw (please try to keep from making comments trying to discourage me. This is not a subject I have taken lightly and there have been countless hours of thought and discussion that have gone into this). One of her feet has been injured from birth and the were unable to fix it surgically. What I've been trying to decide, is whether I'm going to let her learn to fly at all or not. Half of me wants to, so that if there is a problem, she can get away. The other half of me is worried she'd just hurt herself because of . . . impaired landing gear. Suggestions?

 

[Brooke]

Is she flighted to begin with? If so, I would leave her flighted.
Birds are prey, so they learn to adjust with what has been given to them, a lot of handicapped birds on this forum don't even notice that they are handicapped and still do typical day-to-day bird things.
If it was me, I would leave her flighted or let her become flighted. It's good for exercise since she can't do a lot of running

Good luck with whatever you decide!!

 

[Featherpaws]

i have to agree, if she has trouble running around or climbing around, flighted may be better for her. a few crash landings will be expected at first, but after a few weeks of clumsy flying i find they learn really well. it takes practise thats great you are taking in a handicapped bird

 

[alnoble89]

Alex is flighted. I love it but if he became a danger to himself or my other pets I would clip him.

 

[AmberMuffinz]

All birds are clumsy when they are first learning how to fly, just make sure you aren't practicing in a small cement room with cement floors and hazards laying around LOL! Seriously though, I would keep her flighted. It will help her mentally and physically. The one bird I can always recall is Maxwell Studmuffin. His legs are goofy but he flies and lands like a champ. She'll learn how to get around very well, and probably faster than you think!

 

[Mizzely]

I personally would let her try flying and see where it goes. IMO she will adapt more easily than we think. Having full use of her wings will give her confidence

 

[clawnz]

I am with the others.

Flighted!

I have seen a few foot handicapped bids that have learned to deal with it.
Flight, if she will fly, is a very good way for her to get some exercise.
The other thing is if she has any trouble perching, is put in platforms for her.
Tweety (Tiel) comes to mind, she used to fall off the perch at night due to her deformed feet, but she soon learned to sleep on a platform I put in for her. She was flighted after I had to teach her to fly.
Another more drastic case was a Lorikeet with so badly deformed feet it's nails grew back into the flesh. He had closed knuckles to hop around on. Again he lived on a platform, but could still descend the ladder put in for him to reach the bottom of the cage. I am not sure this one could fly as he was never allowed out of his cage, that I remember.

 

[LADyver]

I just wanted to give you support!!! We're permanently bringing home a one-legged African Grey in about two weeks and I have been battling the same question (there's a looooong thread about it on the African Grey forum, it was a relatively recent discussion). After all of the input I received, my final plan is to do a very, very light clip so that she can still fly, but won't be able to gain enough lift or speed to hit a wall, window, or floor very hard. We watched her for two months and she never flies except when she's panicked, and panicked flight is usually how birds get hurt. With the light clip I'll start letting her fly, and I'm going to start by seeing if I can get her to fly very short distances (from cage to me), try training a recall, and set up her cage so that there's lots of stuff on the top to grab onto while she's learning to land (I'm thinking about a play net). I'm also going to try to harness train her, which might be possible because she's a very touchy-feely grey and doesn't mind being handled. So that's the plan, which will no doubt change as we decide what works and what doesn't. I truly don't believe in just letting them go to crash into things. I think that would do more harm than good.

 

[roxynoodle]

I agree, I think I would let her have her wings. If she has never flown, it's quite possible she won't, or at least not for awhile. I suspect my amazon has always been clipped. I've let him grow back his wings, but he doesn't know how to fly. He tried again yesterday and landed on my foot.

I have a blind Grey and I haven't clipped her. She hasn't tried to fly at all so I'm just hoping she won't. I hope I don't regret not clipping her someday, but I was worried she would pluck more. She plucks her belly since getting upset that her previous owners had to start traveling for family reasons.

Your girl could probably learn to land with her one foot though.

Thanks for taking in a special needs bird.

 

[Birdlover]

I would imagine having the use of her wings would be a benefit to her balance. How does the foot look? Many birds get along great with no toes, etc

I have a 'Too that is blind in one eye - wish I knew then what I know now when I was raising her.... I never would have clipped her. I thought it would be better but I think in the long run it only hurt her (mentally) She is lots better now but I feel she would be a different bird if I would have allowed her to fledge as she should have.

 

[Feather]

Very different "impaired land gear," and I realize he's a much smaller, lighter bird, but Finbar makes perfect landings most of the times. The exceptions being when he tries to copy everyone else and land on the birdroom door.
As AmberMuffinz said, Morgan will probably be very clumsy at first. You might consider padding where she might fall or crash until she gets the hang of her wings and landings. It's scary when a bird is learning to fly for the first time (I don't know if you remember Zyda's fledging, but prime example right there), but given the chance to brave learning, I'm sure Morgan will figure it out and be flying with the pros in no time.

 

[Bunnygirl]

I've seen Morgan try to fly a couple of times when she really wanted someone or she got startled, so there's probably a fair chance that she will be up to trying.

We got a discussion about her cage set up and apparently, Morgan thinks that platforms are for babies Every time I've seen her, she's on a normal perch like the other birds. She has no idea she's different and if she wants something, she'll find a way to get it; she's very determined like that. Her foot has gotten much better in the past couple months (it looked awful after the surgery, as did her feathers because it stressed her out so much) but next time I go over there to visit her, I'll try to get a nice close up of the foot.

 

[Birdlover]

Birds really are so amazingly adaptable; they dont act like there is "something wrong" at all. I find that so amazing and special

 

[clawnz]

Just to add.
Any clipping you do may have an adverse effect on her mentally if she does try to fly? And fails due to being clipped she may never try it again. And any bird that is panicked will fly, even with a clip. They just will not have the control. And this can lead to keel bone damage.
With any form of handicapping it can back fire on you.
As for flying into things! You may need to cover windows to start with.
It is also a good idea to take over to the glass and knock on it. this will show her it is a solid and she should catch on.
This has worked a few on this forum.
Please read comments over on the Airport

 

[Bunnygirl]

Just to add.
Any clipping you do may have an adverse effect on her mentally if she does try to fly? And fails due to being clipped she may never try it again. And any bird that is panicked will fly, even with a clip. They just will not have the control. And this can lead to keel bone damage.
With any form of handicapping it can back fire on you.
As for flying into things! You may need to cover windows to start with.
It is also a good idea to take over to the glass and knock on it. this will show her it is a solid and she should catch on.
This has worked a few on this forum.
Please read comments over on the Airport

Thanks. I know that she is clipped currently (And that clipping was prompted by her first flying attempt). I understand why they did it--she is displayed in the open in a bird store and they don't want her flying out the door (which is where she flew too) but because she was clipped currently, I wasn't sure what I wanted to do.

 

[Ziggymon]

Another thing to be very conscious of - large macaws can't really fly properly in most houses, just because of their size relative to room size. One or two wing flaps will take them across an average size room. So, if she hasn't flown before, let her try in the largest room in the house, and be sure to have it cleared of anything that could be a hazard to her.

A large macaw flying indoors is a lot like an adult human swimming in a concrete pool the size of a small inflatable kiddy pool - you're constantly hitting the limits.

 

[Bunnygirl]

Another thing to be very conscious of - large macaws can't really fly properly in most houses, just because of their size relative to room size. One or two wing flaps will take them across an average size room. So, if she hasn't flown before, let her try in the largest room in the house, and be sure to have it cleared of anything that could be a hazard to her.

A large macaw flying indoors is a lot like an adult human swimming in a concrete pool the size of a small inflatable kiddy pool - you're constantly hitting the limits.

I'll try to keep that in mind. Thankfully, out house is pretty big with lots of carpet and our bottom floor is just one big circle so I should be able to find places for flying lessons.

 

[Anne & Gang]

our little Maxwell is handicapped and by leaving him to fly, it has freed up a whole new world for him...leave her flighted.

 

[JLcribber]

We got a discussion about her cage set up and apparently, Morgan thinks that platforms are for babies Every time I've seen her, she's on a normal perch like the other birds.

This is very understandable. Standing on a flat surface with one leg takes a lot of balance because they can't grip the surface. Standing on a perch allows them to "grip" the perch making standing much easier.

A crude analogy about the clipping is: You've broken a leg. Clipping the wings would be very similar to now cutting off your hands just because you broke your leg. You're going to need both your healthy arms to manipulate and use crutches.

 

[Bunnygirl]

A crude analogy about the clipping is: You've broken a leg. Clipping the wings would be very similar to now cutting off your hands just because you broke your leg. You're going to need both your healthy arms to manipulate and use crutches.

That's a great analogy. Thanks for posting it. It really puts it in perspective.