Leeuwieken / amputation

[marie83]

I didn't know such a practice existed. Thats disgusting and so cruel.

It is disgusting. It is mutilation. I almost cry when Rambo is walking and Myrtle lands beside him and walks with him. She knows he is a cripple and can't fly.

What happened to myrtle to stop him flying? poor thing. He may not fly but he is lucky in a million other ways.

[liz]

Myrtle came to me with clipped wings and in poor health. She is now healthy and the happiest little thing flying all over the house. There are times when she is playing in the sunroom and remembers she has not seen us for a while. She will do a circle lap through each room until she knows where everyone is.

Myrtle has become such a good flier that she can even fly sideways to get through half open doors. Her newest flying is to hover like a humming bird. She flew past me one time and instead of circling the room she stopped, hovered and turned to get on my shoulder. It is hilariouse to watch a bird that big hover.

Rambo came to me in good health but his wings were clipped (or something). His flight feathers have never grown back. He does jump off the top of his cage and flap but can't hold his altitude. He has made it as far as the sunroom to the living room but crash lands on anything soft. One time he landed on my cat Squeakie. It is a good thing that those two are friends. She didn't flinch. Most of the time it looks like someone threw him in the room. I am working with him helping him to flap and build his muscles. I lift him up and down on my finger while he flaps and once he feels secure enough he will fly to the couch about 12 feet away. It is so sad to watch the little pedestrian go through the house. That is why Myrtle lands and walks with him.

[marie83]

Yes sorry i meant Rambo.
Its such a shame, are his feathers growing then breaking off because there aren't feathers supporting the new growth or is there just no growth at all?

I have heard stories where they repair the wings with donated feathers. I know Greg Glendall did something like that but he is based in the UK. All they do is attatch donated feathers into the old shafts so when they start growing back in the new feathers don't instantly break off. Might be worth looking into?

[Eurycerus]

Rambo came to me in good health but his wings were clipped (or something). His flight feathers have never grown back.

I've been curious about this myself about why he can't fly. :/ Poor guy.

Your kidding? I thought they were definitely allowed in us considering you allow monkeys n tigers, here in Sweden we have farms with them.

Also California has extremely strict exotic pet regulations (no monkeys or tigers, etc without a permit), some of the stricted in the US, but emu and ostrich are allowed here (I think that's what you all were talking about), but I believe it's state by state.

I actually recently came across this atrocious act, the amputation, and was horrified. I remember as a child watching a movie about geese, where a little girl saves a Canadian Goose from having that happen. At the time I didn't realize it was actually a thing!

[kittyhazelton]

Growing up in an area with a lot of farming communities, this is not something that is done to companion birds but I have seen it quite often on waterfowl & poultry... With animals bred/raised for meat & egg production how do you keep an outdoor/farm bird from flying off as soon as it regrows flight feathers without building a giant cage over your entire property?... and with a large flock it would be difficult to capture/monitor each bird for standard versions of wing clipping especially if there is a pond where you can't always reach them. It's called "pinioning" here I think... and they either remove the tip of the wing or cut the tendon to prevent the birds from stretching thier wings...
barbaric yes, but it is much better IMO than keeping such birds in tiny battery cages and crowded barns their whole lives.

[liz]

The lady that I got Rambo from actually stole him from his first owner. The first owner neglected him awfully. It was so bad that this good Christian lady could not stand it and took him. She had him many years and treated him as her child since she had no children. He could not fly but had free run of the house and learned to talk so well that he could ask questions and give answers.

I don't know anything about the first owner since my friend barely knew him. Rambo just does not have flight feathers.

Myrtle flies like a fighter jet and Rambo flies like an over loaded cargo plane. He can't hold altitude.

[marie83]

Liz did you take a look at this thread that I posted for you? Maybe something like this could help your Rambo

viewtopic.php?f=7&t=9063

[liz]

Marie - I wish I could help Rambo. If he was flighted his world would open up. The only thing that could be done is glue feathers to feathers but I don't know if he could tolerate that. His flight feathers must have been surgically removed. He has nothing where they should be.

[marie83]

Oh Liz that sucks, I know from your posts that you would do anything for your birds which is why I suggested it in case you had never heard about it.
It is a bit bizzare about there being no new growth, they should start growing back but as you will already know they tend to get broken or not grow in properly because there are no other flight feathers to support the new growing one. I wonder if they have been pulled out somehow and it has damaged the actual follicules and that is why there is no regrowth but I wouldn't have thought they would have all got damaged if that were the case.

Obviously you know your bird best and I can't see exactly how the feathers are but it might be possible to attach the replacement feather to the shaft of the closest feathers rather than gluing feather to feather, starting with maybe one or two feathers at a time to see how Rambo reacts to it.
The only issue with that is if he takes well to it then he would need new replacement feathers each time they moulted out if there is no new growth Like I say though, you know him best, it could be torture for him or it could cause him barely any stress if he is used to being handled but I think I would be tempted to start asking some vets some questions even if it does lead to nothing.

[kittyhazelton]

If you go the "replace the feathers" route if they're just breaking off, maybe consider this "imping" technique? I had considered it when Chica came to me clipped, but ended up not because I didn't have a good source for clean full-length macaw flight feathers (everyone I know keeps their birds clipped)
Pics & explanation of the procedure.
http://theparrotuniversity.com/imping_parrots.php