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Hi Everyone... I'm new here from Southern Calif. I just got my African Grey named Gaby. She is 3 1/2 months old. I've had her for 2 weeks now. We are practicing Recall. She is getting better and better with each session. The one problem I have , there is a hanging light fixture where we fly her and it has become a magnet to her. I do give her treats, but she is never that hungry. I don't like starving her so she goes more for the treats. I do have a question.... I am concerned down the road about her plucking her feathers. I know its a stress thing or health issue. I am trying to decide on weather keeping her full flighted or clipping her wings. My breeder told me if I don't want her plucking, keep her full flighted. So my question is how many of you have clipped wings with no feather plucking, and for all full flighted, do you have any problems with plucking. You can also list your bird as plucking or not plucking, flighted or clipped. Thank you, Keith and Gaby

Sorry for the corny title, but it does get to the point of my topic..... I would like to take a survey on wether flighted birds vs Clipped wings have any bearing on weather clipping a birds wings has any impact an a bird plucking his or her feathers. My CAG name is Gaby, and I just brought her home 2 weeks ago. She is now 3 1/2 months old. She is currently fully flighted. I'm debating on wether I want to clip her wings or not. I know there is ALOT of debate on wether or not clipping is ok or not. I bought Gaby from a well known breeder. I did tell him I was worried about Gaby down the road plucking her feathers. He told me not to clip her wings, thinking that could cause her to pluck. If you have a clipped bird that is plucking, could you please chime in and let me know if you think there could be a connection there. If anyone has a preference on clipping or not, please chime in. I would like to hear your opinion. Also if you thing clipping their wings has any impact on plucking. I know this can be a delicate subject. I would appreciate if you could voice your own opinion on this subject. Thank you, Keith & Gaby

My girl Matilda also loves bone marrow from chickens. Thanx for the helpful tips. 🦜👍

A birds happiness is directly tied to their ability to fly, forage and socialize. Clipping takes away one of those aspects. Not every clipped bird plucks but you are increasing your chances. People usually clip to prevent a fly-away, keep the bird out of stuff or some other reason. Whatever your reason for wanting to clip, I would find an alternative around it. I put up chain curtains on our doorways to prevent an accidental escape and I built aviaries to give them lots of stuff to do and be free of their cages. I took in a couple of birds that had been clipped and caged and not allowed to fly. It took about a year for them to learn how to fly and get past the clumsy stage. Neither are as good as the birds I have which have never been clipped. I have one bird which plucks and we can't figure out why. She didn't before she came to us. She was a 100% cage bird before coming here and I think her sudden freedom to roam and find nesting holes has probably led to her pulling her feathers. However I couldn't go back to watching her perch potato in a cage all the time. There's lots of ways around clipping and I love having a bird that can come to you on their own power. I guess in the interest of your survey: I bought my Grey as a baby at the same time as my manager at work. I've had previous experience with a Grey in my early 20s. He had zero experience. I was hell-bent against clipping and tried to steer him away from it as well. He clipped his bird and within the first year, his Grey was plucking. They have struggled with it ever since. They have gotten a handle on it now that they are both working from home (socialize!) but I think they could have prevented it maybe if they chose not to clip.