cdelatorrejr Posted July 31, 2008 Share Posted July 31, 2008 All, Yesterday was Bobot's first flight. At 10 1/2 weeks he lept off his playstand and flew to me as I was walking out of the room. He didn't quite land on me but in the near vicinity. I am so proud of him/her. I've read about the debate on clipping or not clipping wings. We have parakeets and cockatiels and have clipped their wings when we first brought them home since none of them were handfed. Now that they have been trained, there is no need for future clipping. As for Bobot, since he's been handfed and continues to be handfed at his age, I've opted to not clip his wings. I saw how magestic and beautiful he was in flight. In the future, I'd like to be able to bring him out with an aviator harness and allow him to fly around. I took note of someone's comment that they wished they hadn't clipped their birds wings after it got out and could only climb higher and higher in a tree since it didn't know how to fly down. I will practice good bird practicing measures in my home and teach my children to close doors or check if any bird is outside its cage prior to opening any door. Just thought I'd share! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
siobha9 Posted July 31, 2008 Share Posted July 31, 2008 Oh that's so cool! I didnt get my guys till they were 16 weeks so I missed their first flight. I am sure s/he will get the hang of the landing bit at some stage Are you going to have him/her DNA'd or will you just decide he is a she or whatever? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cdelatorrejr Posted July 31, 2008 Author Share Posted July 31, 2008 I am going to have s/he DNA'd and microchipped in a couple of months; my vet recommended to do the microchipping when s/he has developed more chest muscles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
casper Posted July 31, 2008 Share Posted July 31, 2008 I didnt see my birds first flight either as they were both 12 weeks when I got them. It must have been a proud moment! Both mine are flighted but one stays in the main room unless I carry him about, but the youngest loves to fly into each room and follow me about, its so nice to see them fly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cdelatorrejr Posted July 31, 2008 Author Share Posted July 31, 2008 I just spoke with the breeder of my baby TAG. I let him know I wasn't going to clip its wings. I told him I want Bobot to learn to fly when I have him tethered using his aviator harness. He did bring up a few concerns about not clipping. First, he's not worried about Bobot flying but 90% of the time when he's indoors - crashing into windows, walls, etc. resulting in death, injury and/or an unplanned trip to the vet. Secondly, if the bird is accustomed to flying and is in his cage a good portion of the day, s/he may start to feather pluck and be generally unhappy. Can anyone comment about these two concerns?<br><br>Post edited by: cdelatorrejr, at: 2008/07/30 23:10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovemyGreys Posted July 31, 2008 Share Posted July 31, 2008 I have 4 greys which are fully flighted & have never been clipped.When they first find their wings you will have some crash landings until they find safe landing points.Once they know where to land & have mastered their flying skills they are very skilful & learn to avoid any obstacles in the way.As for plucking i dont see that being fully feathered comes in to it.As long as you provide your grey with toys & foraging toys in the cage i dont see any reason why he/she would pluck.I would strongly advise leaving your grey flighted,if anything clipping itself has been linked to plucking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cdelatorrejr Posted July 31, 2008 Author Share Posted July 31, 2008 Thanks lovemygreys for your sound advice from your experience. Bottom line is I want to support what is in the best interest of my FID. I feel the right decision for me is to keep him/her feathered. I just don't have the experience to draw from. Thanks again! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovemyGreys Posted July 31, 2008 Share Posted July 31, 2008 It can be scary for a new owner if you take your baby home before it has learned to fly,as i said expect some crash landings,but it doesnt take them long to find their feet so to speak.It' great that you are letting your baby learn to fly & build up his/her muscles so many greys are clipped before they are given the chance to master flying & this can cause them problems later on if the owner then decides to allow the flights to grow back,the grey simply has no idea how to fly . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trustdace Posted July 31, 2008 Share Posted July 31, 2008 Well drawing from my experience, I had a blue fronted amazon which I decided not to clip the wings and as a matter of fact never saw it fly in 2 years. One day while I was at work, my wife opened the front door of our condo and the bird flew right out the door in what she describes as seconds. She felt so bad and was crying blaming herself as I was always telling her watch the door and the bird. I have decided to keep my grey clipped. I am confident that with attention and affection it will not pluck or display any adverse behavior. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jane08 Posted July 31, 2008 Share Posted July 31, 2008 Yeah they do have accidents when they first learn to fly, but like lovemygrey said they learn really quick, you just need to make sure you supervise them and when they do have an accident don't make a big deal about it. I know with ours they are both flighted and they even have accidents just sitting on their perches or playing, like falling off. It is amazing though how fast they learn and the manouvers they do. Our female is an incredible flier and seeeing them both fly around the house together is such a pleasure. For me there is nothing more amazing than our greys flying directly to me and seeing the wings out, hearing the flapping noise, watching the movement of their bodies, seeing the look in their eyes and then having them land on my hand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
siobha9 Posted July 31, 2008 Share Posted July 31, 2008 Jane08 wrote: For me there is nothing more amazing than our greys flying directly to me and seeing the wings out, hearing the flapping noise, watching the movement of their bodies, seeing the look in their eyes and then having them land on my hand. You have put this so beautifully, and I completely agree Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christina Posted July 31, 2008 Share Posted July 31, 2008 I think that is great. My poor Finnigan was harshly clipped on one side when I got her. The vet clipped the other side so she wouldn't spin as crazily, but wouldn't match the other clip as it was extreme. Her wings are growing out and we are starting to teach her to fly. Here is a website that has a lot of great reading and weighs in heavily on the pros and cons of free flight. http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/Freeflight/message/70012 I found this web-site from the required reading section. http://www.shynefoundation.org/articles.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
casper Posted August 1, 2008 Share Posted August 1, 2008 I love mine flighted as well, there will always be a debate about clipping or not but I feel it is a birds right to fly! My youngest who is 5 months would be heartbroken if he couldnt fly as he loves doing it so much. We always check windows and doors before the birds are out so hopefully accidents will not happen! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trustdace Posted August 1, 2008 Share Posted August 1, 2008 Guys, guys remember Tui. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jane08 Posted August 1, 2008 Share Posted August 1, 2008 Totally different thing with Tui, he tok her outside and did free flying. The majority of us have our greys flying in the house so there is no danger of what happend to Tui happening to us, as long as we are careful with the doors and windows. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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