Post by joiner on Aug 11, 2013 14:26:57 GMT 10
Sorry guys, I seem to be perpetually asking for help. PLease be assured that I'm very, very thankful for your replies, and when the time comes that I have something useful to offer, I'll reply to queries from other folk.
I previously figured Phoenix would be around 15 months now, but having read through a few posts I've discovered that Galah's only breed in spring so he must be approaching his 1st birthday. When we first found him (Christmas eve) he must have been only a few months old and looking back at early pictures its easy to see that he still had juvenile plumage. His wings had been clipped, but badly: the parachute feathers were clipped short and the flight feathers left alone so he could fly (and has flown off 8 times in the past 6 months). Thanks to advice from Mike (Avinet) I have stopped letting him roam the yard and bring him in to the house for play each day. He will fly from me to my daughter quite happily and doesn't mind the occasional mad, squawking flap around the laundry..
My problem is this: his parachute feathers are nearly re-grown, and I'm unsure what is the kindest and best path to take. Should I get his flight feathers clipped so that he can roam the yard again (supervised of course); should I leave him as he is and only allow him his cage and the daily house visits; or should I persist in training to accept a harness so that I can let him roam while tethered?
I'm happy to do whatever is best. Something makes me uneasy about clipping his wings. I sort of feel like I would be making him disabled.
I should make it clear that two of his escapes to the suburbs have been when he has taken fright (usually thanks to a nearby bird) while I've been getting him out of his cage to take him inside. I guess it will happen again in the future no matter how careful I am. Every time we have lost him we have managed to find him again by roaming the suburbs calling and he will either find and follow us or call out. But as he gets older his range increases and I can see the day when finding him won;t be so easy. But I want him to have a happy and fulfilling life (I keep looking at this poor Sulphur Crested in a tiny cage who lives a block away, and I makes me so sad). All advice is welcome. And again ... many thanks.
Cheers
Joiner
I previously figured Phoenix would be around 15 months now, but having read through a few posts I've discovered that Galah's only breed in spring so he must be approaching his 1st birthday. When we first found him (Christmas eve) he must have been only a few months old and looking back at early pictures its easy to see that he still had juvenile plumage. His wings had been clipped, but badly: the parachute feathers were clipped short and the flight feathers left alone so he could fly (and has flown off 8 times in the past 6 months). Thanks to advice from Mike (Avinet) I have stopped letting him roam the yard and bring him in to the house for play each day. He will fly from me to my daughter quite happily and doesn't mind the occasional mad, squawking flap around the laundry..
My problem is this: his parachute feathers are nearly re-grown, and I'm unsure what is the kindest and best path to take. Should I get his flight feathers clipped so that he can roam the yard again (supervised of course); should I leave him as he is and only allow him his cage and the daily house visits; or should I persist in training to accept a harness so that I can let him roam while tethered?
I'm happy to do whatever is best. Something makes me uneasy about clipping his wings. I sort of feel like I would be making him disabled.
I should make it clear that two of his escapes to the suburbs have been when he has taken fright (usually thanks to a nearby bird) while I've been getting him out of his cage to take him inside. I guess it will happen again in the future no matter how careful I am. Every time we have lost him we have managed to find him again by roaming the suburbs calling and he will either find and follow us or call out. But as he gets older his range increases and I can see the day when finding him won;t be so easy. But I want him to have a happy and fulfilling life (I keep looking at this poor Sulphur Crested in a tiny cage who lives a block away, and I makes me so sad). All advice is welcome. And again ... many thanks.
Cheers
Joiner
) They are aviary birds though...