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I'm glad we never really clipped.. just my story, not a debate! :)

Elysian

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Before I got my budgies, I just assumed I would get them clipped. While still preparing, I held a little guy at the pet store and the bird expert was telling me how clipping lets them get safe to the floor but prevents them from going getting lift and going UP. The little guy in my hand then promptly flew up (a little) and over three shelves before landing on the floor. The guy took him away to "take off a little more".
I was terrified then of how easy it would be to lose a bird that was not fully clipped. He could have gone anywhere in the store! He could have been stepped on!

My guys ended up coming from a breeder who lets them fully fledge and learn to fly while weaning, but does put them in a glide clip before sending them home so they can be safer while learning their new environment.

I'd looked into how wing clipping is done before, when we were planning on raising chickens, and again when I decided to get the birds - but I didn't really "get it". I couldn't tell the difference by sight. Looking at the birds in the store, they just looked normal to me.
Looking at my birds, they just looked normal to me. The last fully flighted bird I held was over 20 years ago. I knew the concept of clipping and how to do it, but I from lack of expose had never actually been able to SEE the difference.

After the budgies settled into their cage and seemed okay with stepping on my finger, assuming I had safely and expertly clipped birds, I started bringing them out freely.
Turns out they were just still more shy than I thought :D After a week, when they were *actually* comfortable with me, they took off.
And they landed on the top of our projector screen, just one inch lower than the ceiling. Nine feet up. The single most inconvenient (and possibly unsafe, because its really hard to clean up there) place in the house.
"No lift" ..hah!

I examined them more thoroughly after that and I *did* see cut ends on at least one wing feather each side, but it was mild and subtle and obviously it wasn't enough to stop my boys.
I thought I would probably have to have the vet "take a little more off" for their safety, and my peace of mind.

But the thing is - covid lockdown hit THE DAY I brought them home.
And I hadn't been sure what day I was getting them, so I hadn't already made an initial checkup appointment. And she was now only taking emergency appointments. At the time we thought covid lockdown was going to be 2, maybe 4 weeks? I was going to have to tough it out.

I put their play gym on top of a bookcase near the projector screen. I got a broom (don't worry) and a step stool ready.
When they went on the projector screen I stuck millet in the hole on the tip of the broom stick, told them to "go to your perch!" and lured them to step onto the end of the broom. Then I gently moved them toward the playstand, which was also strug with millet, and they would gladly flutter over there because who wants to be sitting on a moving broom handle!

Every day. Sometimes every five minutes. "Get off, go to your perch".

And then I had to do the same with the mirror over the fireplace.. a good 8 feet up and behind the couch, so also not a great place. I suction cupped a perch to the edge of the mirror and they naturally found that much more appealing to perch on.

After 2 months I was able to get them to the vet. She offered to clip them. At this point they were free-flying all day, rotating between their cage top and three play stands.. NEVER went on the projector anymore.. sometimes it was a little hard to get them back in their cage, but I felt a pain in my heart when I thought about clipping them when they were so used to flying now. I said I needed to think about it.

I've since watched Citrine over-bathe himself once, and get his feathers so soaked he couldnt fly. But he kept trying so hard it broke my heart.
I've since walked into a pet store and suddenly I could SEE the clipped wings. They look so odd - like half the bird is missing, or like severed fingers.

Sometimes I do catch myself wishing they had been more fully clipped so they had bonded with me more at the beginning, but then I feel guilty for being so selfish. They don't sit on my shoulder for rides (because they dont need to). They don't cutely walk around on my desk or my furniture (because they have plenty of their own furniture), and I worked really hard to get the bond we have.
But they fly around and chase each other in a tornado above my head and are SO HAPPY.
I get it, why people do it. And if mine had been "properly" clipped to begin with, I might have stuck with it.

But I am so glad they weren't.
 

fluffypoptarts

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Most of mine were clipped when I got them, but I always let them grow out for safety, health, and happiness reasons. I want them to be able to choose to be with me or be elsewhere, and don’t want them to fall and hurt themselves in the flight cages. I want them to be able to get back up or away from any possible harm if they end up where they don’t want to be (or shouldn’t be).

My guys are very bonded to me and like to hang out with me. One bird that is no longer with me took two years to decide he wanted to be with me, and had his wings almost the whole time. Then one day he just flew to me and landed on my shoulder. From then on, we just grew closer and closer. So flighted birds will definitely still bond with people.:heart2: I think the bond is better and closer for being able to be freely chosen and given, you know? And the trust stronger. Just my experiences and feelings.

(Somebody on AA a while back thought my birds just had to be clipped because of how bonded they were to me. They couldn’t believe that my lovies would freely bond so strongly to me, or freely stay on me.)
 

Tazlima

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I get the same feeling watching my birds fly that I do watching my dogs sprint around off-leash in a really big, open space. They take such obvious delight in motion for its own joyous sake.

It's beautiful to behold, yet so difficult to describe to someone who hasn't experienced it for themselves.
 
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LouieTiel

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When I first got all of mine they all had clipped wings which was fine because I didn’t want them to get spooked and fly somewhere in the house and possibly get hurt, but now every bird has its wings grown out and I think it’s great! My cockatiel especially loves flying around super fast and I’m about to start training him to fly to my hand. I think it’s safer to not clip their wings and just let them fly.
 

dollfish

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But they fly around and chase each other in a tornado above my head and are SO HAPPY.
I understand exactly what you mean! My bird does this INSANE flight and goes around in circles screaming the house down when she is overjoyed and it is probably my absolute favourite thing about her!
 

Elysian

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When I first got all of mine they all had clipped wings which was fine because I didn’t want them to get spooked and fly somewhere in the house and possibly get hurt, but now every bird has its wings grown out and I think it’s great!
Yeah to be fair, I was probably lucky that they weren't terribly skittish (hand fed) and also that my house naturally doesn't have a lot of things for them to get in trouble flying into. The windows were already covered, etc.
They were also babies so they didn't fly far at first.. just UP.. and slowly extended their range as they learned the layout of the house better (its a nice open floor plan with no real corners to turn or anything).

But if their clipping had been more effective, I feel like it would have taken them a lot longer than a week to get comfortable with everything. They'd probably only just now be growing out enough to fly :(
 

Ali

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All of mine have freedom of flight. Why have wings if you can't use them?

Another think I don't get is why someone would want to SPEND MONEY, which could be used for enrichment and toys etc, to make the life of the bird a pretty miserable one?!
 

Lady Jane

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I have often wondered why cutting flight feathers is called clipping. Its not a clip, rather is is a cut. I saw an avian vet cut the flight feathers of an African Grey once and he cut the flight feather up to where it grows out of the bird, completely off. I thought this would bother the bird as it grows back.

This is a good blog entry I often post for members who are thinking of disabling a bird by cutting flight feathers.

 

Dona

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Such a sweet story @Elysian and everyone else. Nothing like a flighted bird. :heart:

Gigi was clipped when she came home with me. It's what was recommended and at the time, what I though was best. But after about 4 months she began to hop/fly and then really fly. I was thrilled. I don't know if our relationship would be the same if she had never been clipped and was less dependent on me. No way to know, but it has turned out well.

Now I love having a flighted bird. Gigi does noisy loops around the family room. CAW! CAW! CAW! After her bath, she flies down the hall, turns the corner into the living room to her cage, sopping wet, with precision. During out time she chooses to land on my shoulder or lap, the play gym, back to the cage for a bite. She hears me cutting our afternoon fruits/veggies and is ready on the back of the sofa when I arrive to share. If I irritate her, she just flies off. I know she's a happy girl with choices.
 

LouieTiel

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Yeah to be fair, I was probably lucky that they weren't terribly skittish (hand fed) and also that my house naturally doesn't have a lot of things for them to get in trouble flying into. The windows were already covered, etc.
They were also babies so they didn't fly far at first.. just UP.. and slowly extended their range as they learned the layout of the house better (its a nice open floor plan with no real corners to turn or anything).

But if their clipping had been more effective, I feel like it would have taken them a lot longer than a week to get comfortable with everything. They'd probably only just now be growing out enough to fly :(
Yeah we had windows that weren’t covered and our dogs are sometimes loose downstairs so I had to get that squared away before I could let them fly
 

Forest

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My little blue budgies originally came from a chain pet store and their wings were severely clipped. Like they couldn't fly at all - not even to flutter. They would just plummet. They even had a hard time going from perch to perch because they didn't have their wings for balance. I had to keep them in a smaller cage for a while because I was afraid they would injure themselves when they tried to fly or jump and ended up falling to the bottom of the cage. Their wings aren't completely grown in yet, but enough that they can flutter now and safely land (and get from perch to perch). The difference in how they act even with just that small change is amazing. I can't wait to see them when they can actually fly!
 

Elysian

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My little blue budgies originally came from a chain pet store and their wings were severely clipped. Like they couldn't fly at all - not even to flutter. They would just plummet. They even had a hard time going from perch to perch because they didn't have their wings for balance. I had to keep them in a smaller cage for a while because I was afraid they would injure themselves when they tried to fly or jump and ended up falling to the bottom of the cage. Their wings aren't completely grown in yet, but enough that they can flutter now and safely land (and get from perch to perch). The difference in how they act even with just that small change is amazing. I can't wait to see them when they can actually fly!
It's crazy to me how much it opened my eyes. Like I said, I never actually visually noticed the difference before. But now ..

We were pricing bigger cages, my bf and I, and I gasped just as we were walking past a ringneck. "Omg, look at that bird!"
He was so confused, thought I wanted it or something.
"They've butchered it!"
Such short wings, cut straight across, ugh.

And now I can't stop seeing it on FB or YouTube when I see cute budgie pics or videos.. their wings are so stunted!
 

budgieluv3

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I once got mine cut at the store, and they cut his so short, that he was never able to fly properly his whole life. If your going to get them cut, use your avian vet. It can also hurt a birds confidence if they are not able to fly. :budgie2: just my opinion though.
 

Lady Jane

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There was a time I worked at a large Petco store for promotion of dog and cage food by Purina. Of course I hung out with the birds much of the time. I talked to the bird care giver who was cutting flight featers of new bird shipments just coming in. I asked her who showed her how to do this and her reply, which I will never forget, "I just looked at some photos on aline" no one showed me how.
 
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