Breeder cut only one wing?!

[abrown1022]

My baby Indian Ringneck came to me from the breeder with only one wing cut! Has anyone ever heard of that?? It looks silly but is that the worst? I have never seen or heard of this practice.. anyone else??

[lzver]

Never heard of that before ... not sure what the reasoning would be to only clip one wing.

I know I would certainly never recommend just clipping one. It might even put them at risk of hurting themselves if they do try to fly.

[abrown1022]

Thank you for your quick response! I was worried that it could endanger him myself. He is not tame yet (the breeder said he was hand raised but I fear that is sooo not the case) and I cant even get my hand in the cage let alone get him out yet. I am not sure if I should take action with this or just wait til he is tame and trained to take him to vet to clip the other wing.

[MandyG]

You might want to check out this discussion regarding a cockatiel that only had one wing clipped. I think there's been mention of one wing clipping on other discussions as well but I can't find them at the moment.

IMO, depending on how severe the cut is on the one wing, you should take the bird to the vet to get the other wing clipped.

[pchela]

Absolutely get the other wing clipped to match. One sided clipping is something that used to be done but is gradually being practiced and with good reason. It throws the poor birds off balance and can cause injury when they try to fly. No question, you need to get his other wing clipped. I can't believe there are still breeders who do that!

[iknowwhatiknow]

My bird was clipped very severely on one wing by the breeder. I contemplated clipping the other wing until I read the above-mentioned post on the cockatiel, and decided that it would be unfair.

It's taken him lots of practice, but he still gets a surprising amount of lift, and I don't think he has any more difficulty landing than he would were he to have evenly clipped wings.

I can't wait for it to grow back in.

[captwest]

Yeah well , clipping one wing was something we did back in the old days,say 1970, the thinking was that if the bird couldn't control it's flight than it wouldn't try.We did it with our pet birds that we kept outside in a tree all day or on a perch and generally speaking it works . but it's not safe , too many bad crashes.

[TheNzJessie]

most zoos clip larger birds (such as flamingos) only one wing because if they cut both they can still get lift but if they cut one they cant. and when have you been to a zoo where they keep birds like flamingos in cages


but doing it to a pet bird like captwest said is ssooooooo 1970

[Shani]

This is still a common thing in Australia with a lot of pet shop birds Good breeders tend not to clip, or clip both wings if the owner requests it.

[patdbunny]

As for your bird behaving wildly like it's not tame - It's common for IRNs to go through bluffing/skittery phase when young. You need to work with it right away - LIKE NOW and don't wait to see if it calms down. The longer you wait, the less likely it will tame back down.

Roz.