First time owner needs some advice please :)

[Tea.cos]

Hello

I have a 5 week old IRN, thanx to this site I have read ALOT about when/what to feed him ect so I'm sorted there for now, the thing I'm struggling with is clipping his wings.
He hasn't started flying yet, he just flaps his wings like crazy. At what age should I get his wings clipped? If they are clipped before he first learns to fly does that mean he will never ever be able to? Which of course isn't nice, I want him to be able to fly one day but I want to take him around with me so chances of him flying away will be quite high. And it seems cruel to let him learn how to fly and Then clip his wings?

Anyone else gone through this too?

Thanx for your help
Teresa

[TomAndGene]

Hello Teresa,

Clipping your birds wings is a large part of bird ownership, It's one of the first decisions you make after choosing it
You have to look at it from your own personal view:

Will i want to walk around with the bird outdoors?
Will my bird be primarily indoors, etc.

Clipping wings is a safe way to ensure your bird doesn't fly off, Birds don't really fly to get away from you or to escape, It's just in their nature to move using flight!

You can clip your birds wings very lightly (This is what i do) Enough so they can fly from maybe 1 room the other, Or to me from the cage, But my bird could not sustain herself enough to fly away, She slowly loses height and gently lands.

If you clip your birds wings too short, And you cut enough feathers your bird will be at risk of trying to fly and seriously injuring him/herself or your bird will develop a fear of flying or a fear of heights. Some people slander wing clipping saying it's animal cruelty, But to us it's the equivalent of clipping our fingernails (In terms of pain) and it ensures you don't lose your loved one in a heartbeat.

To each their own Teresa,
Tom.

[Tea.cos]

Thank you so much for your reply, your advice is very helpful.
Having his wings clipped very lightly like you said you do seems like the best option :) I'm not sure how long it takes for their feathers to grow back, how often does your bird get her feathers trimmed? My bird is 5 weeks old now, is he still too young?
Thank you again Tom :)

[*Mics*]

Hi Teresa,

My baby (Pico) is 8 weeks old and I have had him for about 3 weeks now. At about 6 weeks he starting flapping his wings and the very next day he took his first flight - straight to me. I was NOT expecting it at all. He now has his wing clipped lightly and I think it is the best option. He still manages to fly from his cage to me but just cant get the height in. I take him outside quite often and I the last thing I want is for him to fly away.

I hope my post helps.

Take Care,
Mics

[Tea.cos]

Thank you It does help a lot

[sanjays mummi]

Peter Wien once said, If you have to cripple a creature in order to keep it as a pet, maybe you should rethink it's suitability as a pet. I agree with him.

[khaiqha]

I will always be against clipping a bird's wings for non-medical reasons. It was already said in this thread that it's in a bird's nature to fly. Why rob them of that? There are many things that are denied to a bird that can't fly-

Proper exercise
Development of muscle groups
A way to burn off energy
A sense of independence
An escape mechanism for danergous situations

I also don't buy into the "it's for their safety" argument. For starters, clipped birds can fly with wind. My roommate's bird was clipped and flew from his shoulder to the middle of the street a block over. Luckily there wasn't a car on the road or his bird would have died. I have seen many craigslist ads about clipped birds that flew away. And these are birds that are clipped properly.

Secondly, I don't understand why you would modify the bird instead of its environment for safety. I wouldn' kneecap a horse to keep it from running everywhere.

It also even worse to clip a bird before it fledged. Fledging is when a bird learns to fly as a baby. If you clip it before thathappens, it could possibly never know how to fly. Also, the bird will not learn how to land properly, even when clipped.

My irn learned to wear a harness pretty easily. I can take her outside on it without fear that a random car horn is going to launch her into the street.