Ow man she's mad at me now!

[KiwiandSally]

So yesterday Saturday we took kiwi to the vet. The vet said that she was healthy but that her feathers were in rough shape from either over preening from boredom or they were old. Anyhow she suggested that we clip her and that when they grew back in they would be better. Then we also got her some Harrison's to add into her diet, she's a picky eater so that hasn't gone so well either. Well after the grooming of her wings, beak, and nails we took her home.

 

You know where this is going she hasn't spoken, won't come out of her cage, and is plain mad at me. Every time I stop to see her she puff's up and makes fart noises at me. She won't step up and tells me NO then makes the noise again. So will she hold the grudge for long or will she get over this and will this happen after every grooming?

 

Hope you all have some advice or hope anyways.

 

Wen

[Dave007]

First of all, all parrot's feathers don't look good at one time or another. They're dying or close to dying and minor molts should be around the corner. Simply put, you shouldn't have clipped her wings. All the things she's used to doing that have something to do with wings ( and that doesn't only mean flying) has now been stunted. Are her breast muscles built up and strong? Is she pissed? Yes. Will she hold a grudge? probably not.

But these 2 things you're worrying about are extremely small. What you now have to think about is the length of time it's gonna take for all of the flight feathers to come back. They won't come back evenly and it may take quite a while for a new complete even set is finally there. Was she used to flying from point A to point B? Well, she can't now. Will her personality be altered? Who knows. After clipping some birds become to dependent on their owners and for greys, that's not natural. So give up the idea of *grooming the wings*. Wanna get her claws clipped? Fine. Wing clipping goes against the nature of birds. They were given wings for a very good reason. This is the first time I ever heard that when wings finally grow back in, they'll look better.

[Tango]

Yeah, pretty much what Dave said.

 

You need to do a lot of research and find a good avian vet. It sounds like your vet doesn't know what he/she's doing. No sane vet would advocate clipping to remove "old" feathers, that's insane.

 

Greys moult throughout the year. You need to read a few books, but from our experience here's what we'v found:

 

1) claws naturally grind down if you get a sandpaper perch. We have 4 birds and have never had to clip a single nail. If they start getting too short we swap them out with regular perches. This is normally about a 3 month process.

 

2) Beaks: those sandpaper perches do great, but keep a good cuttlebone in the cage and you'll never have to trim

 

3) Feathers: they moult naturally. Unless you have an obvious plucking problem, let the critters do what nature meant them to do. We get bald spots on our kids all the time, and they grow in just fine. 4 happy, healthy birds with no interference.

 

Unless you're clipping for safety reasons, I recommend you don't clip. Birds fly, it's what they do. Robbing them of that for your convenience is... well... yeah.

[KiwiandSally]

Wow,I have done research and her feathers were not even because she was either chewing or over preening. Some looked chewed but since being rehomed at my house I hadn't actually viewed her chewing. When we took her in she was cage dependent only and never came out. So with all the freedom at my house she was trying to fly and since flying into walls cannot be safe we choose to have her clipped. This is an issue many have a problem with but there are plenty of people on this site who clip their bird and I have yet to read anyone getting quite a response like this.

 

I wanted to know if this response was a normal one but apparently it isn't and i have done something that is not right in your eyes but hey we all have an opinion. People come to this site for advice and I have viewed many post on here about wing clipping. I think it is a personal choice and the vet was a qualified avian vet. Thank you for your response any how!

[Tycos_mom]

Don't feel bad like you said wing clipping is a personal choice. When I got Tyco she also was chewing and barbering her flight feathers but only on her left side and because of this she was so off balance and would fall really hard on her keel. I took her to the vet and got her wings clipped so they matched and had the one she had barber straightened out and after that she totally stopped chewing her wings and is now fully flighted but if I hadn't clipped her I have no doubt she would have continued barbering her left wing because she did it for 4 years so I believe a wing clip is a very necessary thing sometimes even though I don't normally clip my birds wings

[Char]

I think they did come down on you a little hard. I think they interpreted your post like you were clipping only for aesthetic reasons which I am sure is not the case. Sometimes on a board like this it is hard to go into all the things that are said at the vets office and we can be misunderstood. Sometimes we can even misinterpret what the vet explains

 

My bird is clipped also and will remain clipped for safety reasons.<br><br>Post edited by: Char, at: 2009/08/03 05:06

[Tango]

If you're clipping the fid for safety then you have to do what you have to do. If there are external safety concerns that make you decide to clip then the safety and well being of your companion are paramount.

 

Having said that, if you clip for your convenience... and you're too lazy to take proper care of your grey then shame on you.

 

When I asked myself when we got our little ones, if we should clip them, the question was simply: is it for their safety or your convenience?

 

Was a simple answer. They're fully flighted and we love it.

[Storm_2007]

not really sure how this became a clip or not clip thread. The vet clipped them to avert a plucking issue. The main question will she hold the grudge forever? No. just go slow. sitting by her cage and talking/reading to her. slowly build up trust again and you will be fine.