How long for clipped wings to grow out?

[DonaldLL]

Hello Everyone,

 

My Stella is now in her new home for 3 weeks. She is 4 months old. She was clipped when we bought her. We have decided not to continue this practice.

 

Every morning when we take her out of the cage she gets so excited and just starts flapping away. She looks so 'fired up' when she does it, it is as if she's saying "Hey look what I can do"!. A few times now she has decided to take a plunge from atop her cage and she does just that... she drops faster than a glide but not quite as hard as a rock.

 

Can someone explain the process by which her flight feathers will grow out? I mean do the clipped ones eventuall fall out and get replaced by new feathers? Or do the new feathers 'push' the old ones out like anadult tooth pushes baby tooth? Is this molting? How much time will it take for her to have her full feathers?

 

By the way, I have been working with her to wear her Aviator's Harness. She's had it on a few times and she get's nervous within a few minutes so I take it off... until the next time then I leave it on just a bit longer.

 

Thanks

Donald

[danmcq]

Hi Donald,

 

It could be a year to a year and a half before all the Primaries are molted out. There is a molting order (Kinda) and that is when one primary molts, the corresponding primary on the other wing will molt also soon after wards. This is done in sets which keeps them balanced in flight naturally. If a feather becomes damaged at the root, it will molt out and be replaced pretty rapidly. But, clipping does not damage them enough in that sense to cause them to molt.

 

The good news, is as your baby tries flapping and exercising (Which you can encourage) the muscles will build and a more controlled flight to the floor will become possible. In fact, if the muscles are built up enough and the clip is not too short, over time you will find the distance increase.

 

It's wonderful that you have started getting her used to the harness at such a young age. It also sounds like you are being careful in making it as enjoyable as possible, so as not to make it nearly impossible to get a harness on due to a few bad experiences.

[Talon]

My amazon was clipped very very short when I bought her. Her wings were fully grown out in 10 months. MY grey took much longer, more like 12-14 months, and then she would try to fly, crash land and break one or two...she never learned how to fly and it took her a long time to learn. My amazon got the hang of it very quickly.

[Jayd]

The advice you've been given is Grey't, Remember, if your baby jumps and lands hard, they can split there breast, you might wish to pad the area around the cage... Welcome:D

[domyoburk]

Wow, parrots differ a great deal.

 

We similarly bought Ursula clipped at 4 months. She was always game to try flying, diving off of things at a moment's notice. I think it was a pretty short clip but she never crashed or landed hard. She definitely couldn't maintain any altitude, but the decline to the floor was gradual (think 45-degree descent), and she learned to avoid objects.

 

Primaries started being molted and replaced between 1 and 1.5 years old. With each new primary she got better at flying. There was never an awkward period, just a gradual increase in abilities. We never had to train or coax her. At 20 months she was an ace flyer and her weight has increased since then from about 380g to 410g (she is now 30 months old).

 

Good luck and have fun!

[DonaldLL]

Thanks for the replies! Jayd I never realized or even thought about this danger. Thank you for the info. Luckily the room where Stella is located (our living room) has a very large rug thrown over the tile floor. The area all around her cage is "padded". Dan I think I already notice an improvement in stella's strength and control. Perhaps it is really to soon and now I have become one of those fathers with a "gifted child". Again, thanks to all for responding

 

Donald

[danmcq]

Donald, you do indeed have a gifted child. Of course all parrot owners believe theirs are gifted and they are.

 

I am looking forward to hearing and seeing much more about Stella!

[judygram]

Donald I am so glad to hear you want to keep Stella full flighted and when she does fly it will be the experience of a lifetime.

Yes we all have "gifted greys"

[harmar]

My TAG is now 15 months old. He lost about 1/2 of his clipped feathers about 2 weeks ago.

He still has a few left, but he can now actually fly a bit. He doesn't fly on his own unless to come to me, but I give him a small launch to get him flying. At first he was breathing fairly hard after a small flight, but now he is fine. Although I have noticed that he has a bigger appetite ever since he started flying.. getting all that exercise must be making him more hungry!

[Birdnut]

Our Moussa came to us at 12 weeks with a fairly light clip. He is no 7 months and gets around the house pretty well by flying short legs from one perch to another to get where he wants to go. He can't acquire much lift, but can fly across a room at a level altitude. Hopefully, he should have no trouble adjusting when his new flights come in.