wing clipping do or dont??

[Begone]

I think when you first get your bird it's ok to trim their wings for training but then I think they should be able to fly it's just natural for them to be able to fly

I answer your post with this:

Clipping to tame.
This is so wrong.

Yes it is. It will only learn them to be helplessness.

I find it hard to believe, any bird would choose to be handicapped. That is the one who should have the personal choice. Not the owner.

And yes again.

 

[Mizzely]

I want her to fly she came clipped and yes its very frustrating for her not to be able to fly right now that's why I'm wanting them to grow in, it just doesn't seem like they are growing out at all. her tail feathers are growing very well in a month (we had an oopsie where our puppy wanted to say hi when she fluttered off her cage to the floor and pulled out 3 tail feathers) but her flight feathers don't appear to be growing at all in 2 months so I was just curious as to how long it will take for them to come in. thank you for the time line and 12 months will be agonizing for me and my baby I'm very anxious to get her flying asap

When your dog pulled out her tail feathers, it told the body to replace them.

Your bird has an internal clock inside that suggests when feathers should be replaced. Usually, twice a year, wing feathers get dropped and replaced. They dont usually all get replaced at once to protect the flight capabilities.

 

[Begone]

but her flight feathers don't appear to be growing at all in 2 months so I was just curious as to how long it will take for them to come in.

They will not come back until her first molt.
But you can train her to flap her wings so she get some kind of muscle training. How much is the clipped? And how old is she?

 

[Mark & Da Boyz]

Ah, when the tail feathers were pulled that get them to grew back ASAP. A clipped feather will have to be molted out or pulled (please don't as it hurts them) to get it to grow back.

 

[sezii]

She can glide from her cage to our recliner which is about 6-8 ft and she flutters her wings alot in her cage wanting to get lift but can't. I do my best to give her the "flight" experience with her limited ability and she is 6 months old

 

[sezii]

I believe she has the full clip not the half clip because she can't get lift at all unless she is higher than her target

 

[Begone]

and she flutters her wings alot in her cage wanting to get lift but can't.

Encourage that.

I do my best to give her the "flight" experience with her limited ability

That is great.

 

[jrockbridge]

This is interesting. I'm a new Mynah bird owner. I had D for only a week when I took him out of his cage to transfer him to a carrier for his first vet visit. He got away from me, flew across the room and ran into the fridge. Fortunately, he was not seriously hurt. But, when we got to the vet, I made the decision to clip his wings to avoid injury.

However, she clipped his feathers so heavily that he can't even fly at all. That seemed wrong to me but she's an experienced Avian Vet and I'm a noob. It would seem that even a person experienced with birds can go too far.

I'm not sure what I should do at this point. My only other pet bird was a Golden Rosella and he was able to fly. But, every time that GR got out of his cage, he ran into walls. By some miracle, he never got seriously hurt.

Personally, I'd like to find a happy medium. I don't want my Mynah bird, D, to get hurt flying into walls but I want him to have some ability to fly.

 

[jmfleish]

This is interesting. I'm a new Mynah bird owner. I had D for only a week when I took him out of his cage to transfer him to a carrier for his first vet visit. He got away from me, flew across the room and ran into the fridge. Fortunately, he was not seriously hurt. But, when we got to the vet, I made the decision to clip his wings to avoid injury.

However, she clipped his feathers so heavily that he can't even fly at all. That seemed wrong to me but she's an experienced Avian Vet and I'm a noob. It would seem that even a person experienced with birds can go too far.

I'm not sure what I should do at this point. My only other pet bird was a Golden Rosella and he was able to fly. But, every time that GR got out of his cage, he ran into walls. By some miracle, he never got seriously hurt.

Personally, I'd like to find a happy medium. I don't want my Mynah bird, D, to get hurt flying into walls but I want him to have some ability to fly.

The reason your birds are crashing into things is because they are new to flying. Just like a baby doesn't just walk but needs to learn and will probably fall a lot and scrape a knee, birds need to learn how to fly by practice and the more they do the better they get at it. I would cover up mirrors, windows, and anything that will cause your birds to see a reflection and just work with them. They will learn, trust me!

 

[Mizzely]

Non hookbill birds shouldn't be clipped because they can't climb like parrots

 

[Lady Jane]

That get was wrong to clip your birds flight feathers and I am sorry. Try to give your bird as much exercise as possible within his ability. Would love to see a photo of your bird.

 

[Linearis]

I also got my parrotlet pre-clipped (didn't even realize till I brought her home) and I really wish her wings would hurry up and grow out... She relies on me a lot to get around and I wish she could feel a bit more independent with her movements. I have taught her to flap her wings on command though, I taught her a few tricks (spinning, giving foot) but I think my favorite is the wing flap just because it's ADORABLE and because it helps her workout her muscles! We both win... and she gets millet for it.

 

[Distaff]

Ok, it is alarming and upsetting when a wild bird crashes into a window and gets killed, but they are flying fast. The impact is much worse. A newbe flier inside a room won't have that much momentum - as hard as it is to watch. They have to just learn.

 

[Serin]

Ah, when the tail feathers were pulled that get them to grew back ASAP. A clipped feather will have to be molted out or pulled (please don't as it hurts them) to get it to grow back.

I have pulled out clipped flights more than ten times on parakeets (wing clipped by stores or former owners) and canaries (feathers worn out due to failing to molt - rescue birds.) It takes about three seconds, and the bird can then become fully flighted within four weeks. I did it most recently on a little baby budgie that I found walking around loose outside a Petco in August (dumped, clearly, probably by someone who was not allowed to return him because he has a Petco band.) He was such a sad little guy, totally flightless four weeks ago. All the wing feathers grew back in at once, and now he flies brilliantly around the house and has so much confidence. I am not sure whether the wing feathers of larger birds are as easily detached, I imagine that for them the issue is not as quickly resolved. If it were my mynah I would still attempt to pluck three flights on each wing, at the tips. If those grew back, the bird would have some flight ability within the month. It's not at all healthy to wing clip a mynah as they cannot get around at all that way.

BTW the parakeet hasn't held any grudge. A moment of discomfort is worth the returned mobility IMO.

Birds are supposed to fly.

 

[Distaff]

I LOVE that pic!
What a cutie!

 

[Nikomania]

I'd never heard that about removing the clipped flight feathers before!
I've had Dexter, my scarlet, now for almost a year. He'd been clipped before fledge, which makes me sad, but I vowed to let them grow back in and work on his ability to fly.
I'm STILL waiting for all those clipped feathers to molt and grow back in. So far 3 on each side. Every single time one drops, I rejoice!
If I'd known that about removing the flights I may have considered it. Waiting a whole year for his molt has been most aggravating, to say the least.

 

[Shezbug]

Flying for a bird is a big part of who and what they are. People do not adjust easily, happily or well to disabilities yet they have the ability to understand what has happened to them, how can a bird adjust to having one of its (most important) natural abilities removed when they can not understand why it has been done? It will only cause confusion and fear and then condition the bird to just sit still (give up) when hands (predators) are coming as they know they do not have a chance at protecting themselves by getting away. This is not a relationship with your bird, it is torture and unfair. Forced friendship or forced acceptance is not something I would ever want from my bird.
For anyone wanting to clip without a valid medical reason I beg you to temporarily disable yourself (blindfold, bandage up both hands, stop knees from bending, etc) and honestly live like that for a week before deciding to clip your bird, I would almost bet (if you have compassion) that you will decide not to clip and find some patience and imagination to get around the problems you feel are there because your bird has wings.

 

[Appolosmom]

I don't pretend to be an expert when I said to clip their wings when you first get them I was only repeating what the breeder told me I believe with my whole heart that birds need to fly

 

[Karen]

I'd never heard that about removing the clipped flight feathers before!
I've had Dexter, my scarlet, now for almost a year. He'd been clipped before fledge, which makes me sad, but I vowed to let them grow back in and work on his ability to fly.
I'm STILL waiting for all those clipped feathers to molt and grow back in. So far 3 on each side. Every single time one drops, I rejoice!
If I'd known that about removing the flights I may have considered it. Waiting a whole year for his molt has been most aggravating, to say the least.

I don't think this is something you want to do to a Macaw. IMO, pulling out a flight feather would be very painful. I recall Mary Lynn posting an article quite some time ago about ancient Macaw feather farming and it said:

"Among the wing bones, they found bumps that they say indicates feathers having been deliberately plucked by humans. According to Nature, the flight feathers of a macaw are rooted in the bone, and yanking them out could have led to the raised lumps."

 

[Nikomania]

Well, I'm not going to be doing that anyway. Just found it interesting that when they're removed, new ones can grow in so quickly.
Dexter's will get there eventually. It's just taking longer than I'd expected.