Questions about green cheek wings

[Olson]

I had just purchased a 5 month old green cheek conure about a month ago so it is about 6 months old and they told me that their wings were trimmed to were they could still grow their flight feathers back over time but I have just been curious how long that may take?

 

[SailBoat]

I had just purchased a 5 month old green cheek conure about a month ago so it is about 6 months old and they told me that their wings were trimmed to were they could still grow their flight feathers back over time but I have just been curious how long that may take?

Much of when your Parrot will have enough flight surface to fly depends on how extensive the Wing Clipping had been. If they cut only the first half of the Primary Wing Feathers, it could be a few months. If they cut all the Primary Wing Feathers, it will be longer. And, if they cut all of the Primary and all of the Secondary Wing Feathers is could be a year or more.

 

[clark_conure]

Next time around just make sure they, or you, don't take too much off, ideally it should look something like this. This will provide enough lift for a gentle glide down without seeing a bird go splat, and hurting himself.

 

[LordTriggs]

being their first feathers it's a bit harder to pin down exactly when. Could be anything up to 5 years. If you do decide to let their flight feathers come in keep an eye on them as they'll be clumsier as they haven't learnt to fly. If you think they're at risk take them to your avian vet for a clipping along with their check-up

 

[FlyBirdiesFly]

It could take up to 2 years depending on the type of clip, some birds break new feathers as they're coming in as they don't have support from the surrounding feathers. I would encourage you not to clip them again... flight is really important for birds and clipping them will not make them safer, but susceptible to other kinds of accidents.

 

[clark_conure]

I respectfully disagree with FlyBirdiesFly DEPENDING on the bird. My conure doesn't like to leave my shoulder and wouldn't fly away for fun regardless, I believe he has more fun going with me in the truck and going in to a mom and pop store and going outside in the yard to yell at robins, and the wrens etc. Since he prefers to do activities with me...I keep him clipped. If he was more independent I might consider letting him fly around the house, but that would keep him from enjoying the "out of the house" things. Even when his wings were at flight ability he won't fly away to play elsewhere because he's so bonded. So I use the "better safe than sorry" approach and just keep him clipped to a glide down only level of flight.

And yes a big wind could still elevate him as I've been told but in my case its a safe area unless a chipmunk wants to do some fisticuffs.

 

[FlyBirdiesFly]

You know it's never safe to bring unrestrained birds outside... and harness training would solve your issue. Yes, it may take a long time, but it's worth it to be able to SAFELY take your bird outside while keeping his flying abilities. And if a bird is so bonded to you, why not teach him to fly to you? My birds are recall trained and fly to me on their own, just to be with me. Plus I saw that photo and it looks like he has about 5 flight feathers trimmed, my conure has 5 feathers trimmed on each wing (the breeder did it) but he can still gain a good amount of lift and fly around fairly well. Not as well as my budgie and cockatiel, but still enough to fly away if I took him outside.

 

[Puck]

It's a tough topic that we all have our own opinions about. There is definitely always risk in taking even a clipped bird outside, but we all make our decision on that, and there is also a definite risk in allowing birds to be free flighted in very enclosed spaces like a house. It's a personal choice.

But as to the actual OP's question, flight feathers definitely vary in when they'll come in. Have faith, though, they will eventually return then you can take them to an avian vet and tell them exactly how much you want clipped. Or they can start with the minimal amount of clipping (a subtle partial clip) and if you want more, you can always get more clipped. You can't undo too much, clipping, though! I personally am in the middle of the issue. My birds have partial clips so they are capable of flying from room to room but not getting enough lift to zoom in circles around the house over and over again.

 

[FlyBirdiesFly]

Why is everyone telling Olson to get them clipped again? They never even said they were going to continue clipping the flight feathers. They just asked when they will grow back!

 

[Puck]

I promise, no one's trying to tell Olson to do anything. People are just carrying on conversation and explaining about wing clipping goes along with talking about clipped wings. There is no encouragement one way or the other from most people on this forum. We all just share what we do and accept what other do. IF the OP wants to have another clip, we're informing them of how they can safely so it. No one says they have to one way or the other, just like you're not saying they can't. It's all simply personal opinion. Please don't take offense at anyone's posts. We can disagree with each other on issues and still get along fine.

 

[FlyBirdiesFly]

I know you're not telling them to do something, but assuming that they would like another clip. Like how Clark conure said "next time around" like they're assuming Olson will clip the bird again. I think it's all great that everyone accepts others opinions. It's just really hard because I think of wing clipping as handicapping the bird and believe birds are meant to fly!

 

[Mudkips]

The wording may not have been perfect, but we're only trying to inform people on the pros and cons of clipping (and the pros and cons of not clipping).

There's a delicate balance to be made. The better informed people are, the better off our fids will be!