Advice on whether a cockatiel breeders clipping practices are safe?

[hexenbeast]

Hey, I just wanted advice because the internet tends to be filled with lots of contradictory information.
I've been in touch with a cockatiel breeders for 4 weeks and had chosen a baby from her clutch and I have been recieving updates and watching him grow all this time. He's 6 weeks now and I was so excited for my baby to come home in two more weeks.
However, I saw her post a video of the babies today and she said she lightly clipped their wings because they were trying to fly and she was nervous they were going to hurt themselves crashing into things.
Now, my two birds are flighted fully and I have set up the room with large climbing objects and perches for them to fly between (teil and kakariki) but surely clipping a babies wings before they've even learnt how to fly is highly damaging or am I being dramatic (or uneducated)?
I'm not sure now if I want to go forward with buying this baby but I'm so attached to him I'm completely torn on my decision.
If I did go ahead and get him how long would it take for his feather to grow out at that age? And would I have other obstacles to deal with like mental and physical development of the baby?
Or should I tell the breeder I'm dropping out due to this?

 

[Emma&pico]

Hey
I totally understand your view I don’t think you are being dramatic
I find clipping isn’t something I would want either but I think you should still go ahead if your attached to him

@Pixiebeaks will be able to answer your question better

mine Gcc were babies fully flighted though they dropped flights and tail feathers just before a year old

Blu bcc will be one in march and hasn’t dropped any flights or tail feathers yet though I wish he would his tails in tatters

 

[Pixiebeaks]

Hopefully it is just a light clip .
My dream bird Came clipped and so did 2 of my others. I hate it ofvourse ! If I had my way would never happen !
But all it's turned out fine and learned to fly great .
It's a bit of pain waiting months for them to grow in , but my current new baby who has a severe clip has managed to master short flight already !
It's up to you .
But it hasn't ever stopped me from getting one I wanted

 

[Shezbug]

Each to ones own but in all honesty I personally would not bring home a baby that’s clipped. I feel supporting bad, inexperienced, uneducated or unethical breeders who do this is equivalent to supporting pet stores who sell poorly bred and raised pets strictly for profit.
No decent, appropriately educated breeder would clip a baby.

That being said- I have terribly strong views on clipping birds and I also am extremely fussy on who I’ll support when it comes to me acquiring a new pet from someone. I want to increase my chances of long term overall health so I’ll only support getting babies from ethical well educated breeders- healthy, well bred and well raised babies of all species have a better chance of not causing me extra medical bills or problems that don’t need to be there.

 

[hexenbeast]

Each to ones own but in all honesty I personally would not bring home a baby that’s clipped. I feel supporting bad, inexperienced, uneducated or unethical breeders who do this is equivalent to supporting pet stores who sell poorly bred and raised pets strictly for profit.
No decent, appropriately educated breeder would clip a baby.

That being said- I have terribly strong views on clipping birds and I also am extremely fussy on who I’ll support when it comes to me acquiring a new pet from someone. I want to increase my chances of long term overall health so I’ll only support getting babies from ethical well educated breeders- healthy, well bred and well raised babies of all species have a better chance of not causing me extra medical bills or problems that don’t need to be there.

Honestly I agree with everything you've said above. I don't agree with clipping at all unless in medically needed circumstances. I think I'm also a bit more upset that he essentially has been my bird since picking him from the clutch and she's done this without even telling me herself or even asking first. She is a new breeder but I wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt but I feel like this is the last straw for me as there have been a couple of other things I haven't been entirely happy with (feeding human food eg yesterday she gave them a quaver to snack on) and she has her birds free flighted around her dogs. But I was willing to over look those things as long as her birds were well cared for and loved. But I have decided to pull out because there's just more cons than pro's for me now.

 

[Shezbug]

What the heck is a quaver??

 

[MommyBird]

Hey, I just wanted advice because the internet tends to be filled with lots of contradictory information.
I've been in touch with a cockatiel breeders for 4 weeks and had chosen a baby from her clutch and I have been recieving updates and watching him grow all this time. He's 6 weeks now and I was so excited for my baby to come home in two more weeks.
However, I saw her post a video of the babies today and she said she lightly clipped their wings because they were trying to fly and she was nervous they were going to hurt themselves crashing into things.
Now, my two birds are flighted fully and I have set up the room with large climbing objects and perches for them to fly between (teil and kakariki) but surely clipping a babies wings before they've even learnt how to fly is highly damaging or am I being dramatic (or uneducated)?
I'm not sure now if I want to go forward with buying this baby but I'm so attached to him I'm completely torn on my decision.
If I did go ahead and get him how long would it take for his feather to grow out at that age? And would I have other obstacles to deal with like mental and physical development of the baby?
Or should I tell the breeder I'm dropping out due to this?

I would drop out
this page discusses some of the problems it causes:
" Yes, clipping a bird's wings before it has fledged (learned to fly) is considered bad practice and can have significant negative impacts on its development and well-being, as it prevents the bird from naturally learning essential flight skills and can lead to long-term physical and psychological issues; most experts advise waiting until a bird is fully fledged before considering wing clipping, if at all. "
"Wing clipping before fledging–the important developmental stage when a bird learns to fly–has the potential to inflict the most serious and long-lasting consequences compared with a singular clip of equal duration at any other time in its life. Wing clipping that interferes with fledging effectively interferes with the normal development of a young animal. Every bird owner, current or future, deserves to know how a bird can be affected by this."
Wing Clipping - How Does It Affect a Baby Bird's Development?.

 

[Aestatis]

What the heck is a quaver??

I did some digging and holy crap: Quavers - Wikipedia

Looks like a fried chip - maybe like a cheezy frito sincw they are corn based?

 

[hexenbeast]

What the heck is a quaver??

Quaver it's a type of British crisps (chips if American?) like a cheese puff type thing

 

[hexenbeast]

I did some digging and holy crap: Quavers - Wikipedia

Looks like a fried chip - maybe like a cheezy frito sincw they are corn based?

That's the one, but yeah. I did message her to pull out and just explained my stance. I was as polite and apologetic as possible but just wanted to let her know why. Honestly now I am glad I pulled out she was extremely rude and defensive towards me and honestly it quite upset me.

 

[Shezbug]

Quaver it's a type of British crisps (chips if American?) like a cheese puff type thing

Yes I saw that. Sorry to have read in your post to Aestatis that you got some poor treatment, I hope you don't let it bother you for too long... you are well within your rights to want a bird who is intact when you bring it home. If she is so convinced that clipping is good she would not have gotten defensive or upset she just would have seen that what she likes and what you like are two different things and not been bothered by a difference of opinion as she would be happy and confident about her choices.

I remember when I had arranged to buy my baby macaw that I had a terrible panic a while before he was ready to even fledge or wean and I called the breeder to ask/discuss/ kind of demand that whatever his normal procedures were with his baby macs that he leave my bird totally fully flighted and he was literally horrified that I even thought he would clip a bird- that for me was such a highlight in chatting with him, hearing him trying to be polite to me but knowing and hearing how offended he was that I thought he would clip a bird, we got to know each other a tad better after that chat and I even got my babies first lift off on video which was something the breeder had never done for anyone before (had to call me to ask how to send me a video lol), he had like 6 or 7 baby macs and a handful or two of other species all ready to fledge at around the same time.

I hope you manage to find a breeder you are happy with or a bird in need of a good home soon so this incident can be put behind you.

 

[T. gillii]

I am sure you can find a better breeder! Keep us updated when you do and when you get your baby A baby that is allowed to fledge is a much happier baby!

 

[Emma&pico]

Are you in uk ? Where abouts ? And what breeder you getting from ?

 

[Aestatis]

It sounds like you made the right call. I actually was going to say how there's an argument that a truly light clip might not be too detrimental if you were in love with the bird BUT then you mentioned the quavers. And then it sounds like the breeder was really nasty to you. Shezbug is right - if the breeder was acting out of ignorance they wouldn't have been so rude. Ignorance can be fixed, rudeness is a bit harder.

 

[sunnysmom]

From what I have seen, breeders who clip are just like breeders who sell unweaned babies. They just don't want to deal with the hassle. If you cannot find another breeder, I suggest looking at rescues near you. There are always a lot of cockatiels in need of a good home.

 

[Zilga]

I'd dip unless you were absolutely in love with that particular bird. I didn't think as much of it until I saw firsthand the difference between my never-clipped birds and the others in their confidence flying around.

 

[Emma&pico]

@hexenbeast are you in uk ?

 

[hexenbeast]

@hexenbeast are you in uk ?

Yes, I am in the UK! South Wales

 

[Emma&pico]

Yes, I am in the UK! South Wales

Which breeder did you go with ?

 

[hexenbeast]

From what I have seen, breeders who clip are just like breeders who sell unweaned babies. They just don't want to deal with the hassle. If you cannot find another breeder, I suggest looking at rescues near you. There are always a lot of cockatiels in need of a good home.

Honestly this was one of the major red flags for me, the reasons they gave for clipping (which I didn't ask for I simply said it's not a practice I agree with or want to support) made it sound like they had done it more for own convenience rather than the birds. When my first bird was still learning to fly I adjusted to the room so it would be safer for him as a clumsy baby so he would be less likely to hurt himself. Never once did I even think of clipping his wings.