Taking a Grey outside?

I know its cool to take your birds outsid eon nice days in a cage, but I see a lot of people inline who take them outside sans cage. As much as I would love to take Cheney everywhere with me I can't imagine how I would feel if she flew away.

This guy got me really thinking about it. At 2:20 he talks about what happened.
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OKlxjZQUueQ]YouTube - ‪Tui parrot missing, flew away after bad advice from a birdtrick website‬‏[/ame]

So, do you guys clip their wings or use harnesses or some other thing to keep the birdies from flying away? What do you think is the best method to use?

Anyone thought of teaching your bird your name, address and phone number so if something happens maybe someone will return the bird to you?

How horrible, I could not imagine how bad he must feel. Merlin has got out before, he crawled out the extra food door on his cage (i push his cage on the deck & had forgot to fasten it) he flew up into a limb on the spruce tree above the deck. I felt so helpless, if he didnt come to me or allow me to come to him, I couldnt have done anything to prevent it. I eventually got on a ladder & he stepped up. He thought he looked great sitting in a tree, I nearly had a heart attack.

I see alot of young birds being trained w/a harness. They seem really comfortable & happy to be outside. I think you would have to start early, both w/the harness & being comfortable outdoors. Have fun!

I take mine outside, with a harness and leash. Never would I take any parrot outside without them on a leash or in a cage.

as nut is 2 and rather strong willed about things, i dont bother trying with harness, and as for wing clippin? i know she will miss flyin about the house, she will rather fly then sit on out shoulders lol, so i just take her whole cage outside, takes 2 to carry it lol

i can't watch that video as i can only imagine what thay guy is goin through, and as much as i know my little nut loves her flock, i know deep down, she'd like a flock she can fly with, and the crows near me are pretty vicious, let alone the kestrals! and she has no street smarts an will probably try askin the nearest cat for directions home and i know many ppl will freak if she just landed on them

My husband and I are debating wing clipping. Our breeder swears that Grey's get self-confidence and a sense of self-esteem from being able to fly and that clipping their wings psychologically damages them. So, we decided not to clip. Then I read this avian vet's site and he lists all manner of dangers in the home for flighted birds such as pots of boiling water, ceiling fans, windows..and because of these things he advises clipping. Plus, further complicating matters, we have other pets and I thought having the birds wings unclipped would give her a way to escape unwanted attention if she ever got out of the cage herself. I am really on the fence about clipping.

For those that use harnesses, how do you go about choosing a quality harness that will not break or get unhooked? How do you train the bird to accept the harness and understand its limitations when harnessed?

I just read a post on how someone introduces a harness to their parrot, let me find the link!

FOUND IT

http://www.parrotforums.com/training/10696-leash-training-question.html - read second post.

goodluck!

-edit-
I think I am going to purchase a harness for my Ringneck, he is young still; so if I buy it early just to introduce him to it ready for when he's older might be doing myself a favor!

That video is really depressing

I couldn't watch it. I am on my mobiles portable broadband; so I didn't want to run up a stupidly huge bill! Though I can just imagine the pain of losing any animal. D: I don't look forward to watching it when I get home!

MJJean said:

My husband and I are debating wing clipping. Our breeder swears that Grey's get self-confidence and a sense of self-esteem from being able to fly and that clipping their wings psychologically damages them. So, we decided not to clip. Then I read this avian vet's site and he lists all manner of dangers in the home for flighted birds such as pots of boiling water, ceiling fans, windows..and because of these things he advises clipping. Plus, further complicating matters, we have other pets and I thought having the birds wings unclipped would give her a way to escape unwanted attention if she ever got out of the cage herself. I am really on the fence about clipping.

Click to expand...

I am definitely on the side of not clipping, that being said it is harder to have a unclipped bird. A unclipped bird is cockier, less dependant on you for getting around. Training is harder, if they do not like what you are saying or doing, they can just fly away. I have really had to think hard to dicipline Merlin, frequently instead of a timeout in his cage, I just go in a room w/a door & put myself in timeout. (results are the same, he doesnt get to be w/me) There are more dangers, open toilets,& all that you named above. He is caged when I am cooking, we dont use our ceiling fans at all. Merlin has to be watched 100% of the time w/our dog, he loves the dog, but she is lower in the pecking order & he will torment her if unsupervised, very dangerous even w/a saint of a dog like I have.

The plus of a free flighted bird is that he is supposed to fly! You would not cripple a dog to make it a better pet. He is healthier w/the exercise from flying. He could fly from a stalking cat. He is more confident when climbing in his cage. He is all around a happier bird. He will sit in the mirror & flap his wings saying "merlin flys". I think there will be times that I will clip merlin, we havent had a vacation since we got him & I will either take him w/me or con my mother into sitting with him. Either way, he is being clipped.

Its got to be a personal decision that will fit best w/your life. There are only 2 in our household, less people in & out, so unclipped works for us. Either decision you make is not permanent, you can change your mind. I do kind of agree w/your breeder. Greys are so intelligent, that the extra confidence they will get flying might help w/any problems that they tend to have.:41:

None of mine are clipped, and Ida, my baby grey came to me unclipped. The breeder flat out told me she wouldn't do it for about the same reasons yours gave you. I must say my Ida, who is still young, just weaned last month, gets around GREAT! She can bob and weave while flying, and has figured out the lay out of the apartment.

As for the harness, just introduce it while young and it shouldn't be a problem. The velcro is really strong on those flight suits. I'm not worried when I bring Ida outside. Someone on here told me you could use an x-small dog harness as well. I have not had any luck finding one I thought would work yet, but I am still looking.

Mine go outside with me all the time but they have flight suits and they love being outside with me and going places...Leroy goes to my place of employment once a month to visit everyone....he loves it and so do they...

Sorry, I didn't watch the video.....just don't have it in me to watch it.

Bob was clipped when I got him, and has not grown his feather back yet. That said this morning he flew around my apartment without much trouble. I am working on harness training him, but it is slow going. I realy want to take him for a walk, and do not want to do it with him in a cage.

Thank you for your responses!

Yes, the video is sad. I watched the whole series of videos he posted and became very attached to Tui. Then I watched the last video and realized what happened to Tui and about cried. I wish I had known in advance Tui escaped. I wouldn't have become so emotionally invested!

The good that has come of it is that a lot of people who watched are thinking about safety, though, so at least the tragedy can be used to prevent others from feeling his pain.

I think we are decided on a harness and not clipping Cheney's wings. I am also definately going to teach our names, address and phone number, just in case.

How sad.
And I would NEVER let my Greys going outside without chains and wings clipped.