I keep hearing from owners who have been recommended to trim the wings of their parrots and parakeets, even from veterinarians and so-called behavior consultants. Is this really a sensible measure or animal cruelty? Find out everything you need to know about clipping wings here. Continue reading …
Clipping wings and animal welfare
Compared to some other countries, animal protection is very important in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Of course there is room for improvement. But on the whole, we don’t want to harm animals and especially not our pets, our family members and friends…. Learning to speak a parrot
We do not remove claws from cats, cut the vocal cords of dogs, or clip the wings of our birds.
Wings clip in upward trend
Wait a minute… to my horror I’ve been hearing more and more reports lately about parrots and parakeets clipping their wings. It seems to be increasing. Are we becoming a country of designer animals, where animals are trimmed to our liking?
That shouldn’t actually be the case. Because our animal protection law clearly prohibits this. But the reality I observe tells me otherwise.
IN THIS EPISODE
What are the arguments for trimming the wings?
When does wing clipping result in biting?
How can you undo wing clipping?
Why can wing clipping lead to plucking?
What does wing trim have to do with aspergillosis?
Arguments for wing trimming
The arguments that are given in favor of trimming the wings are often bogus arguments. In other words, arguments that seem logical at first glance, but are rather nonsensical when questioned.
Clip wings for the safety of parrots & parakeets
The list of pro-arguments for trimming the wings is led by: Then he can’t fly away. But this is wrong! In the USA, where clipping wings is not uncommon, clipped birds fly away with regularity….
“Proper” wing clipping does not make a bird completely flightless. Amadins Breeding Because then every time he gets frightened, loses his balance or tries to escape, he would fall to the groI have written an article about how to properly protect yourself and, above all, your birds from escaping: Preventing a parakeet or parrot from escaping – how do you prevent it? explained in detail.und like a stone. With serious injuries and even death….
Dangerous injuries caused by trimming the wings
If you receive my newsletter, then you may know the story of my African gray parrot, Hector, who I got from the pet store with his wings clipped. Hector’s chest burst open in one of these falls. Really burst open. It had to be stitched. Then the seams ripped out. Just terrible. And it took forever to heal. Such suffering. You wouldn’t wish such an ordeal on your worst enemy, and especially not on your – or any – defenseless, innocent animal.
Escape despite clipping your wings?
So the parrot or parakeet – trimmed “properly” – can definitely still glide. With a little wind and buoyancy, it can also get up into the tree. But since he can’t fly or maneuver well, his life is in danger. Because he cannot escape his enemies. Affacts Birds In addition, he is not able to fly down again on his own. Clipping your wings doesn’t prevent you from escaping, it just makes things worse.
Clipping wings makes owners careless
Owners of parrots and parakeets with clipped wings often feel too safe. This results in birds with clipped wings being placed in dangerous situations that they would otherwise never have to deal with.
I have written an article about how to properly protect yourself and, above all, your birds from escaping: Preventing a parakeet or parrot from escaping – how do you prevent it? explained in detail.
Clip wings to tame the bird
The second argument I hear for trimming the wings is: I do it to make him tame. Such an idea is, of course, formed from a complete ignorance of behavior. Taming happens through building trust. In other words, developing a positive relationship with the animal. This works great, for example, through positive training.
Clipping the wings deprives the bird of the opportunity to escape
Clipping wings, on the other hand, makes it impossible for the bird to escape. He has to endure being close to the creepy person because he can’t leave. At best, this is extremely stressful for the parrot or parakeet and can even lead to shock and death. And more often than you think.
Learned helplessness is not taming!
If the parrot or parakeet survives, it has learned that resistance is pointless. But this is not a trusting relationship, but a serious psychological disorder – learned helplessness is what we call it in technical jargon. The bird lets everything happen to him and the stupid owner believes that the bird trusts him. Because he lets everything happen to him. This is lifelong animal cruelty. It doesn’t work at all.
Bite by clipping wings
Alternatively, many parrots and parakeets also learn to bite in such situations. Since escape is not possible for a bird with clipped wings, it has to defend itself. Bathing a Parrot: He quickly learned that he could ward off unwanted proximity with hearty bites.
Clipping wings leads to further animal cruelty
As you can easily imagine, this does not contribute to the bird’s quality of life. He is no longer let out of the cage, has no positive social contact with his human flock and this often leads to more or less severe mistreatment of the bird. Clipping your wings to tame them is really bad nonsense.
Wing sleeves for training
A variant of clipping wings for taming is a well-known trainer who recommends clipping the animals for clicker training. Now my voice has just gone up an octave. That really upsets me. Clipping the wings is intended to make the start of training easier.
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