Deano wrote:you dont shorten your kids leg when they start walking
True, but your kids cant make several hundred metres of movement in a few moments after opening the door either hehe. (not until they are older anyway heh)
I have been clipping and controlling pet bird flight for years now and after trying the no clip method, the clip method, my semi clip method I have come to the conclusion giving your pet bird full flight ability indoors is utterly useless and if anything, less beneficial than a semi clip.. not to mention the risks far outweigh the benefits.
note: semi clip method (looks like a full wing when collapsed but expanded you can see each feather has the larger side of the feather clipped off from the 'stem' so you have a full "half" feather if that makes sense) will post some pics later.. not for the new clipping parents unless you have help.
Full clipping in its first year (after it has already learnt how to fly) is the easier way to maintain training, and focus of your bird. This sets up dependancy upon you to start as well.
Birds will not "resent" you for clipping their wings unless you torment them doing it. The reason some people often struggle with clipped birds is because they are not meeting their NEEDS! Often neglecting what the bird is trying to express, or misunderstand what it wants.
A clipped bird relies 100% on you to get around quickly and safely unless it has structures to climb over and from etc but generally... if it wants to go over there, that fuss you see might be it just saying "over there now please" or "near you please" or "back to my cage please" etc.
A fully clipped bird serves little to no purpose unless you fre fly your bird outside or you have an extremely large house with serious flight space available.
A semi clipped bird is what I believe everyone should have on their pets unless they are comfortable with understanding their clipped birds needs.. there are cosmetic ways of doing this so it appears like the wing is untouched unless its in flight incase that is one of your reasons for not wanting a clip.
You see, indoor birds dont do anywhere near the exercise a bird technically should get... this health problem is often overcome by thoroughly healthy diets, and other activities, however I have always had happier birds that can fly around.
What a semi clip does is keeps the birds flight ability... however seriously impacts on the energy it takes to fly, making the bird work harder to get somewhere. Now... in your home environment, small flight area... this has many advantages... flying suddenly helps maintain the birds natural ability as well as giving it a mini workout... it also is not going to be able to make it several hundred metres from your house if it gets spooked and takes flight past your shoulder into the world... making recapture a sinch!
The people who are against clipping "its cruel" or "its not natural" are fundamentally flawed. You have taken a bird capable of extreme flight and shoved it into a shoebox in comparison (your home). The bird does not need to fly IF you are a good understanding owner who can read your birds signals and you give it a great healthy diet.... this is key!
Birds do not "feel" any form of damage done to feathers in the mature state, there are no if's or but's about this. If you have done a nasty job at clipping then you face the mental stress the bird will face of trying to keep the feathers maintained. Mental stress is extreme in birds... MUST be avoided.
Regarding feather growth... IRN's moult once a year for a varied amount of time depending on age, environment, feed etc. So once clipped its clipped till the next moult.
You have to re-clip a bird once a year to maintain the flight capacity required, there will have to be a period of full flight during moulting (no cutting imature feathers).
I seruously support semi clipping, it maintains health, natural ability, self preservation and mental stability for those who are more independant of their owners (due to circumstance or owners not being at their demand).
Full clipping is good IF you are the kind of owner who can do everything for your pet bird and maintain a seriously good diet (no flight = much less activity).
No clipping really has no sence unless you live in an extremely large home that it can make use of those flights, or you freefly your bird outdoors now and then. Each time you read one of those "lost bird" adds realise they also believed their bird would not freak out, or try to fly through the door as you went through it.
wow.. what a rant... hope someone finds this info helpful.
Statistics are the children of lies lol... however im sure people realise that well over 75% or more of birds lost to escape, do not come back. Once out and scared, your pet bird can travel extreme distances on adrenalin regardless of its health. Once taken flight... you rarely get them back again.
, I would be very distraught if anything happened to him. I kept his wings clipped all this time, so I could tame him. I think whether you clip them or not, they need constant supervision to help reduce those accidents around the home. If I have Smokey's wings clipped, I know he will follow me on foot and therefore runs a high risk of being trodden on or accidentally kicked etc, so he is probably safer being able to fly to me than walk. Obviously you are going to have to watch them around the fire and take the necessary precautions. I too have alot of big windows but keep blinds or curtains there so there are no sudden crashes.
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