skshamshir1 Posted March 22, 2013 Share Posted March 22, 2013 I'm worried about my african grey (congo) about its wing-clipping. Its about 4.5 months old and has taken about 30 flights over the past 7 days.. ranging from short to medium distances indoor. I'm not concerned about its flying away.. Only thing that bothers me is ceiling fans. From where i come, weather is extremely hot & humid and mercury reaches upto 50 degree celsius. Even a parrot can't stand the heat during summers and A/C and fans are must! As summers approaching near I took my bird to a petshop today for wing clipping but the way it screamed I had no option left other than to bring it back with wings intact. I could not bear somebody cutting my bird's wings I don't want it crash into a running fan either Pls help.. should i get its wing clipped or not? Regards, Saad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jayd Posted March 22, 2013 Share Posted March 22, 2013 (edited) Welcome, the best thing for your Grey is to not use the overhead fan, find a alternative...From your Greys reaction I'm afraid a clipping might cause a lot of mental harm.... Edited March 22, 2013 by Jayd spelling Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mistyparrot Posted March 22, 2013 Share Posted March 22, 2013 (edited) Welcome Skshamshir1. I understand your fear of the ceiling fan. An unweary or spooked bird could be badly injured by flying in to it. I know they are large but could it be possible to construct a cage to surround the fan? Remember that even a clipped Grey can take flight if alarmed. Even better this company makes bladeless fans that are completely safe for flying birds. http://www.dyson.co.uk. They sell all over the world so I am sure you can find a supplier in your country. Personally I think that clipping a Grey is a bad thing. They are birds that are meant to fly. This is from the Times newspaper. It may help you to see what they are about. http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/business/industries/engineering/article3135488.ece Steve n Misty Edited March 22, 2013 by Mistyparrot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danmcq Posted March 22, 2013 Share Posted March 22, 2013 (edited) Welcome Saad! As the others have said, please don't clip his wings. Use fans like the on Steve posted or one that has enclosed fan blades and oscillates back and forth. I know those are not as pretty as a ceiling fan, but they are safe to use in rooms your grey will be in when out of the cage. Edited March 22, 2013 by danmcq Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luvparrots Posted March 22, 2013 Share Posted March 22, 2013 Perhaps you can tie pieces of ribbon or cloth from the fan blades so that your grey knows they are in motion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skshamshir1 Posted March 22, 2013 Author Share Posted March 22, 2013 Thanks for the warm welcome & suggestions. Actually, I have already managed one room for my bird with a similar dyson like fan (not exactly the same thing though) which is v safe but the problem remains.. I can't keep the poor thing in that room all day long.. it has to come out.. socialize.. Similarly i can't stay with it for too long in that single room At the moment, it owns the house.. it freely moves.. fly wherever it wants.. I can't switchover entire fans of my house either.. these sort of fans won't be tolerated by other family members during extreme summers maybe there could be some other way out.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJ The Grey Posted March 22, 2013 Share Posted March 22, 2013 i have a clipping question. My Grey, DJ, is 11 months old and he was clipped when i brought him home at 4.5 months old. how long until the feathers grow back? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danmcq Posted March 22, 2013 Share Posted March 22, 2013 i have a clipping question. My Grey, DJ, is 11 months old and he was clipped when i brought him home at 4.5 months old. how long until the feathers grow back? They will slowly start coming in as they molt out in pairs i.e. one from one wing and the corresponding feather on the other wing. It can take up to 2 years for them all to molt and come back in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darkfifi29 Posted March 22, 2013 Share Posted March 22, 2013 with you all the way.... these might be a bit pricey but so safe and so effective Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kins2321@yahoo.com Posted March 22, 2013 Share Posted March 22, 2013 Oh NOOOO! NOT the dreaded clipping question! I TRIMMED my birds when they were younger when I was working on training. BUT.... my birds could still fly within three rooms. It worked for me, ONLY.... because I have the best trimmer in the USA! I'm not kidding! I told Paul my goal for the birds, being fully flighted was the goal. Sophie my grey has just learned to fly because she was poorly clipped and I adopted her at age two.ALL babies need to learn to fly, develop their chest muscles.It also builds confidence. A confident bird,is a happy bird, which also decreases chance of chewing feathers. Safety,is always the most important thing. People that have an open concept house, have to work harder training a grey. Those that can remove their bird from the cage,go into another room and practice flying, step-up and down, always have an advantage. The doors are closed, bird can focus more.It took Sophie over 12 years to fly the way she always wanted too. It was Kiki the Amazon who finally showed her how to fly. A simple readjustment in " flapping of wings", made all the difference. Sophie imitated Kiki's flapping....Kiki would fly a short distance, wait for Sophie. Sophie would follow, Kiki would take off again.Of course Sophie followed.Too this day, I find this the most AMAZING cooperation between twobirds. Kiki doesn't wait for anyone, she flies around and around! Nancy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wingy Posted March 23, 2013 Share Posted March 23, 2013 You can use mosquito netting over a frame of plastic pipe and hang by hooks from the ceiling to cover the fan or use window screening and wood strips to make a box cage around the fan area that would again attach to the ceiling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
murfchck Posted March 24, 2013 Share Posted March 24, 2013 (edited) Oh, thats a great idea with the screen covers around them. I have seen two new ceiling fans out now at Lowes that are built with a cover, bird safe. http://images.lowes.com/product/converted/840506/840506058170lg.jpg http://images.lowes.com/product/converted/840506/840506057654lg.jpg Heck, they have alot more like that online. Here is another. http://www.lowes.com/pd_331102-88854-LP8076LBN_0__?productId=3284042&Ntt=ceiling+fans&pl=1¤tURL=%3FNtt%3Dceiling%2Bfans&facetInfo= Edited March 24, 2013 by murfchck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skshamshir1 Posted April 7, 2013 Author Share Posted April 7, 2013 Thank you so much guys for the suggestions & kind words, it really means alot! I'm working on another idea wherein i've utilized my central patio (next to living room) for my birdie. It's a nice big space with its toys, perch, feed, etc. I've also managed to get a bladeless (dyson-like) fan for it but it's really hard to leave it all alone there even for a couple of mins as it only enjoys our company :'( Once it sees us it would not resist n would try every possible thing to get through the glass/wire-mesh window n come to us.. today it got hurt a little (0.0001%) banging twice with the wire-mesh frame.. its really painful seeing it without us even though its just a couple of hours practice as it still sleeps inside in an indoor cage which happens to be it's sleeping area n funny it never poops there I'll put up some pics soon of this new arrangement.. pls do let me know if there is any other way/idea to make things better & easy, thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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