Cockatoo fully flighted

[melinda]

I have a u2 that didn't have any flight feathers when i got her. I let them grow out even after everyone telling me not to, that she would become hateful and bite all the time. I think she has never flown at all. If something upsets her when she is on her playstand she just falls off of it and comes running to me. I would love to get a fight harness to take her outside and let her fly, but i don't want to make her do something that i don't think she even knows that she can do. What should i do to help her? I hate when she hits the floor. She won't even try to slow the fall down any. Any sug. ? Thank you

 

[Mayden]

She's so beautiful. :3

I wouldn't get her a harness just yet, let her learn how to fly first. Looks like your helping her there, are you trying to teach her to fly?

 

[oled]

I am training Polly by having hear on my hand and take the arm up and dow quite quick. That way she is "flying" "without flying". Could that be a way of training U2 ?

 

[suebee]

what a beauty!!! as for flight harness, you could get her use to her harness an go for walks

that way when she does get the idea of flying, she'll also knbow the lead will only let her go so far???

 

[melinda]

I'm not worried about getting her use to a harness as she will let me do anything to her. I would love to know how to show her that she can fly with her wings, instead of her hitting the floor like a rock. I have tried to get her to fly to me from her playstand ( realy it would just be a hop) To get a treat but she will choose to fall down before she would try to fly.i hold her up and play with her, she flaps hard and could take of easy so i know she could but just won't. has anyone else had this problem?

 

[Mayden]

I'm not worried about getting her use to a harness as she will let me do anything to her. I would love to know how to show her that she can fly with her wings, instead of her hitting the floor like a rock. I have tried to get her to fly to me from her playstand ( realy it would just be a hop) To get a treat but she will choose to fall down before she would try to fly.i hold her up and play with her, she flaps hard and could take of easy so i know she could but just won't. has anyone else had this problem?

I think you should try and do what Oled said, hold her feet and raise your arm up and down she she flaps, then just keep doing that and eventually let go, she'll probably panic the first few times and flop to the floor 9so be careful!) but eventually she'll just keep flapping and I'm sure she'll learn that way.

How horrible is it that adult birds don't know how to fly. Hope you can teach her soon xx

 

[melinda]

when i raise my hand and her on it she starts flapping and will keep it up as long as i want to. I hate the ideal of droping her do you think it might cause her to lose some trust in me? We have a great bond but i wouldn't want to mess that up. It is sad that adult birds have never had the chance to learn to fly. I always heard that they should learn when they are a baby Then trim the wings. What happen to that?

 

[Mare Miller]

I've ALLOWED, (such a controlling word), my umbrella cockatoo's flight feathers to grow out about three years ago. It's been quite a journey ever since. He didn't KNOW he could fly! Sooo, sad! Birds were born to fly! If you give them a chance, their instincts should kick in. I now free flight my bird and could not imagine doing it any differently. If the bird knows you and loves you, has bonded with you...don't be scared, let him be a bird!

 

[Mare Miller]

one more note...I live in the middle of nowhere. I'm not sure how free flight would work in the city, just not sure...

 

[Mare Miller]

ok, second note,..you don't want them to fly into a window if you're in the house. That's happened to us with Amigo when he was learning to fly. Close the curtains, that helps.

 

[IcyWolf]

my goffin was the same way, she never knew how to fly. I don't know the circumstances as to why, but she just couldn't. When I got her she was a plucker(little attention, no toys and an all seed diet), after changing her diet, giving her toys and spending time with her she stopped plucking her body but she still clipped her own wings! I couldn't figure out why but as soon as she would get a flight feather in she would bite it off, right where you would clip it too :/ After a few years though, she finally stopped chewing at them and had her full wings back! I was soooo happy that she could finally fly.... then we realized she didn't know how to.... lol. We would do the same thing though, slowly drop our hand down so that she would flap. We also did something a little unconventional... keep in mind that she was a very trusting too, I could do pretty much anything with her and she knew that I wasn't going to hurt her, otherwise I wouldn't have done this, but we took a sheet and I held one end and he held the other, with her sitting in the middle of it we slowly started bouncing her. At first we did it so gently that she didn't actually come up off of it, and then a little bit more and more so that she would pop up, flap her wings and then come back down in the middle of the sheet. Eventually she started to understand that if she flapped, she would glide, and then when she learned to glide she learned how to get a bit of lift. Like I said, it is unconventional but it worked, and I wouldn't have done it if she showed any signs of being afraid and honestly, I think she thought it was a game. She was always a bit of a daredevil though, I could hold her in my hand on her back and toss her in the air and catch her again

 

[melinda]

Update-Chloe has took about 8 flights down the hall.She is so beautiful in flight. The first 3 landings was nerve wreaking for me. She now knows she can fly but hardly ever wants to. I have been tring to get her to do more but she just doesn't act interested. I am going to get a harness that way when spring comes around next year she can enjoy flight outside. Plus i am sure she would love to go on walks with me without being in a carrier.