Keeping flight feathers?

[NoelleLeong]

Hi all its me again haha as said in the title, I was debating if I should keep my tiel, Haiiro's flight feathers. I really want to allow him the freedom to fly like how natural shapes him. I know about the various debates between this idea but I really want to know what you guys think. The factors that I had consider includes, he might fly out of my apartment(I live at the 23rd storey and the void decks are filled with ferocious cats), I also have dogs at home(one of them is an old terrier. She had bitten one of my tiel in the past before which result in the loss of my tiels ). I also do not have a room to allow her to fly but I do have big fields near the void deck which can allow free flight (I will be investing in an aviator harness to ensure Haiiro's safety so that mishaps do not happen) and last but not least, my dad seems not very happy about keeping Haiiro's flight feathers, saying that he might fly out of the apartment. Haiiro also doesn't seems to know how to fly as the pet shop owner had clipped its wings before it learn how to fly and then sold it to me. Sorry for the lengthy post as I am very serious in considering this decision which might cause me to lose Haiiro. Comments and suggestion on improvising is most definitely welcome and thanks in advance

 

[KatherineI]

In my honest opinion, your Dad is right. Not to mention, I don't believe those harnesses are meant for you to be able to hold on to them while they're flying. Can you imagine trying to fly while tethered?

Free Flight isn't for most pets. While we have our resident free-flyer, Amigo, his situation is significantly different than yours. If you're concerned about the dog, is it possible to have the dog crated, or secluded in a room while you have the bird out, and keep the bird in a good sized cage the rest of the time? Tiel's are also tiny. Letting them free-fly out and about could instigate a much larger bird making a snack out of your pet, which would be horrible!

Just some food for thought.

 

[Nakiska]

Aaahhh...to clip or not to clip...the age old debate.

I have mixed emotions about clipping here's why.

My first cockatiel..Chaco was fully flighted when I got him. My ex-father-in-law found him outside his house and after trying to locate his owner with no luck, asked me if I wanted a bird. Of course I couldn't say no and that's how I got Chaco.

I LOVED him! He LOVED me...we bonded and I had him for an entire year.

One afternoon, I lost track of the time and was late going to pick up my kids from school. Chaco was out and about in the house. When I went to get him back in his cage...he flew off and landed on the curtain rod and I thought...aww...what the heck, he'll be fine...I'll only be gone a few minutes.

I opened the front door, began to walk out, heard Chaco take flight and within seconds he had landed on my head..I was outside! Now had I not panicked and just calmly walked back inside...I'd still have my Chaco Bird...but my panic startled him and he flew off and around our house 3 times and landed up high in a spindly alder tree.

Long story short...he lived outside our house for 4 days and I when I spoke out to him, he'd answer me but each day he was just a bit further away. I never got him back.

I was devistated!

5 years later I decided on a whim I needed another bird and I knew exactly what I was going to get....a Lutino Cockatiel.

I thought about trying to leave her flighted at first, but then she had a run in with our bedroom window that scared me soo bad...thought she was going to break her neck she hit it so hard...I clipped her right then and there. She stayed clipped for almost a year however, now her feathers have grown out...she hasn't taken off crazy flying like the day she hit the window and our living arrangement is different then the one I had when I had Chaco bird...Our birds are now kept upstairs and there is no chance they could fly out the front door and all our windows have screens...but even still...when we have them out...we close the window.

I have purchased flight suits for both our conure and our pigeon..and I use them, on our pigeon every day...and on our conure...only when I'm taking him bye bye or outside. So currently all our birds are fully flighted...but I wouldn't hesitate to clip them if I felt there was a chance I could loose one out a opened window or door.

Clipping has its advantages and it's disadvantages and it's not a fail proof way of not loosing your bird...clipped birds have been lost too...

Flightsuits are great and I've had great success with ours...however not every bird is going to accept the harness or suit, no matter how hard you try. For some folks, it's a larger frustration than it's worth. I haven't tried a flightsuit with our tiels yet as they aren't as tame as our pigeon and conure is. They like to hang out and perch on us...but not to be petted or scritched.

Clipping is a personal choice, that's for sure. I'm an inbetweener...LOL...because yes, I love having our birds flighted...but I wouldn't hesitate to clip if I felt it was in the best interest of their safety and to save me the pain of a lost escaped bird. That is a heartache I'd prefer never to have to go through again.

Good Luck with your decision.

Toni

 

[NoelleLeong]

Thanks KatherineI for replying. So far, I don't think my area have any predators except for the cats. The dogs are kept in the kitchen whenever Haiiro comes out to play though. Maybe I should invest in a flight cage or maybe try to clear out the room for Haiiro to enjoy some flying Its current cage do allow some flying as it is rectangular rather than square. Once again, thanks for your opinion

 

[KatherineI]

Our birds are now kept upstairs and there is no chance they could fly out the front door and all our windows have screens...but even still...when we have them out...we close the window.

You say that... but did you see my Escape post from Friday? My birds are kept upstairs as well. In my bedroom. And my Goffin managed to get downstairs and out my front door. If she hadn't been clipped, lord only knows if I would have gotten her back!

 

[NoelleLeong]

Thanks for your reply Nakiska. Maybe I should keep its flight feathers and allow it to learn to fly first in a small room. Afterall, it did not have a chance to learn how to fly at all :/ Is it possible to control the length of the flight feathers to ensure that Haiiro can only fly to a certain height? My past IRN was able to fly short distance and low height although his wings were clipped so I was wondering about that..Thanks for your reply

 

[Nakiska]

Our birds are now kept upstairs and there is no chance they could fly out the front door and all our windows have screens...but even still...when we have them out...we close the window.

You say that... but did you see my Escape post from Friday? My birds are kept upstairs as well. In my bedroom. And my Goffin managed to get downstairs and out my front door. If she hadn't been clipped, lord only knows if I would have gotten her back!

It's an extremely controlled environment now...when our birds are out our bedroom door is closed and usually locked...and everyone in the house knows to knock before entering because the closed door usually means the birds are loose.

And for you...YIKES! I didn't see your post and I'm sooo glad you got her back.

I know there's always a chance for escape no matter how careful we are...but if I wasn't fully confident in the safety and security of our birds, I'd clip them all without a moments hesitation.

Our old house was a mobile home with a very open floor plan and Chaco was free in the house all day every day. Thousands of times we walked in and out the door without an issue...I never even thought he could get out so fast...but he showed me!

He taught me a valuable lesson..no doubt. When I got him and realized how amazing he was, he talked he was soo sweet...loved his scritches...it was very apparent who ever lost him loved him very much and they were probably as devistated as I was to loose him. I bet who ever they were...lost him the same sort of way.

Toni

 

[Mare Miller]

I'm not familiar with cockatiels but I would definitely use a harness when outside with your bird. It takes quite awhile for a bird to bond with you, comfortably. I free fly Mi Amigo, a U2, and it was a stressful journey but...(you all know I have to add), worth it in the end.

Amigo is a much larger bird than a cockatiel and there are predator birds around. So these are things you need to think about. I personally, don't think free flight is for most pet birds.

I just brought a new goffin cockatoo into our family and wondering whether or not I should keep her wings clipped for the same reason you are wondering!?

 

[NoelleLeong]

Thanks Mare Miller for your response I would definitely be investing in a harness so that nothing will happen whenever I bring it to outside. Because even though the wings may be clipped, there are no guarantee that mishaps will not happen. My previous IRN gave me a surprise when he almost flew out of the window despite having clipped wings. Apparently, the pet shop owners were not very skilled in clipping wings :/ The tiel I have now also have a weird wing clipping. However, I think I will keep his flight feathers so that Haiiro can at least enjoy a bit of flight (its wings was clipped by the pet shop owners before it was even able to learn how to fly) in one of my rooms before clipping the flight feathers. The fact that Haiiro is very attached to me makes me unable to bear clipping its wings.(Whenever I left it on its perch for awhile to prepare some treats in the kitchen, it will panic and come down of the perch and walk around while calling for me. Once he saw me, Haiiro would 'run' towards me and perch onto my finger or shirt ) Anyways, thanks for your response and enjoy your new goffin cockatoo

 

[lene1949]

I have learned, after clipping 3 feathers of each wing on Max, that his navigational skills have dropped considerably.. I did it because he was being cheeky, and didn't want to step up or going back into his cage... After a few months I had enough, and clipped the wings...

Max is still not happy, and when his wings grow out they stay that way, regardless...

 

[mrob]

Hello
Just thought I would mention - teils are very good at flying even with a clip. Bear this in mind if you do decide to clip!

 

[NoelleLeong]

Thanks for all the replies lene1949, mrob.
lene1949: Haiiro wasn't really cheeky though. True that he tried to take off from my finger on various occasion but I take it as it is trying to learn how to fly, considering the fact that Haiiro had never learn how to fly as its wings were already clipped when I got it and its around the age where it has just been weaned and learn how to fly(he is about 2 months now going 3 month soon). I wanted to give it an opportunity to at least experience flight even if its only for awhile..Thanks for your reply
mrob: yah I have heard that they are really good flyer. Hence, the thought of investing in a harness. When out for its playtime, I try to close the windows and on a fan for air to circulate(it's humid here in Singapore :/ ). I also put its perch and playgym far away from window in case it took flight and banged against a window. Thanks for your reply

 

[Mayden]

In my honest opinion, your Dad is right. Not to mention, I don't believe those harnesses are meant for you to be able to hold on to them while they're flying. Can you imagine trying to fly while tethered?

Free Flight isn't for most pets. While we have our resident free-flyer, Amigo, his situation is significantly different than yours. If you're concerned about the dog, is it possible to have the dog crated, or secluded in a room while you have the bird out, and keep the bird in a good sized cage the rest of the time? Tiel's are also tiny. Letting them free-fly out and about could instigate a much larger bird making a snack out of your pet, which would be horrible!

Just some food for thought.

Just a little note on this; everyones answers are good etc!

But about the teathered part, you can get what is called a 'flight line' with the harness. It's basically two prongs that get stuck into the ground and a wire that should lie 'tight' on the ground (so it doesn't get caught in grass) the hoop on the aviator is then clipped to a tiny thing on the flight line and the bird can fly up/away along the flight line, so with very limited restriction in regards to suddenly being 'yoinked' back.

Wish Merlin would use it >: (

 

[KatherineI]

Just a little note on this; everyones answers are good etc!

But about the teathered part, you can get what is called a 'flight line' with the harness. It's basically two prongs that get stuck into the ground and a wire that should lie 'tight' on the ground (so it doesn't get caught in grass) the hoop on the aviator is then clipped to a tiny thing on the flight line and the bird can fly up/away along the flight line, so with very limited restriction in regards to suddenly being 'yoinked' back.

Wish Merlin would use it >: (

I was not aware of this. Yeah, all I could think of was the "yoink" backwards, hehe!

 

[Mayden]

Just a little note on this; everyones answers are good etc!

But about the teathered part, you can get what is called a 'flight line' with the harness. It's basically two prongs that get stuck into the ground and a wire that should lie 'tight' on the ground (so it doesn't get caught in grass) the hoop on the aviator is then clipped to a tiny thing on the flight line and the bird can fly up/away along the flight line, so with very limited restriction in regards to suddenly being 'yoinked' back.

Wish Merlin would use it >: (

I was not aware of this. Yeah, all I could think of was the "yoink" backwards, hehe!

I had Merlin without the flightline and because of the elastic it does mean he isn't just jolted to a stop/fall, but has to turn to glide down. The flightline is great especially if you have two people. Me and my dad had Merlin fly to each of us in the garden, it is great. They can get more height too as the flight line comes with another line (that's on it already, can't be removed etc) with the clasp attaching to the harness wriststrap, so it's pretty long even if you don't have the flightline rolled out far. It's actually brilliant and if you can get your bird to accept a harness I'd fully recommend it, anyone . My budgie loves being out in the grass (never used flightline though) he loves just pottering around enjoying life with his aviator. But I'd save it for larger birds when there's the threat of predators about, lucky here in UK we don't have too many that are airborne!

In OP's situation I'm gonna recommend clipping, just let him fly around in the house with clipped wings until everyone feels more comfortable without clipping. Merlin is very bonded to me and I'm comfortable having him unclipped as he is very very unlikely to try and leave us to get out of the window. It's one of those calculated risk type things. We've had him fly away before but that was... 'unintentional' as he got too much lift and couldn't fly back down to us even thought he wanted to.

Rambling... I vote clip in your scenario

 

[Mayden]

I feel I wrote 'line' far too many times in the last post, goodness it's hard to explain it without rambling about lines! xD

 

[NoelleLeong]

Thanks for everyone's replies Just a thought, I have read some articles that says various length of wings clip can result low height but good distance flying for the bird. This means they do not have enough 'lift' to fly to a great height but in terms of length, they can still fly like a full flight bird. So I was wondering if any of you guys here have read about it before. Thanks for all your replies