# Having your tiel flight trained?



## Aadil (Oct 29, 2011)

Hi guys and gals
I have noticed that most of the you have your tiels with full flight feathers.Most of the people I know have they birds wings cliped.I would like to know how did you flight train them to fly to you or not to fly outside
I am planing on leaving my birds with all they feathers as I find it cruel for them to have wings but for what?? All im worried about is when I bond so close to them and they fly away
I hope some of you guys could let me know the pros and cons of fully flighted birds!
Thanks in advance
Aadil


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## slowzak (Oct 23, 2011)

Ozzy, my cockatiel flies to me when I call him and he will fly back to his cage on his own. Cosmo, my conure flies to me whenever I leave the room - she won't come when I call her but I know that if I'm out of sight she will join me. Its sweet to know she wants to be with me. The downside is the fact that whenever I'm cooking in the kitchen, or answering the front door, or if I'm going to be busy for a while such as showering I have to put the birds away because they could get themselves hurt. If you don't mind gathering your birds and putting them away a couple times a day when their flight is inconvenient, having a flighted bird can be very rewarding when you know they want to be with you.


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## Aadil (Oct 29, 2011)

Thanks allot for that, I will consider that once my baby birds are getting the full feathers as they are still begin hand reared


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## Fortunate (Oct 31, 2011)

you can get harnesses for birds.....i'm planning to get one for my baby when he learns to fly.... try using the harness to teach him where to go, that way you will feel better that he cant get away.

He can fly with you but not away from you.


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## rbaahn (Nov 4, 2011)

We have been clipping our birds wing for about a year but recently bought a harness and have decided to grow his wings because we thing he will be happier. He is having trouble because he doesn't have all his feathers and he never learned to fly properly. He also needs lots of encouragement to have a go and half to time forget he can fly short distances!

It is annoying having to put him away when cooking and opening the door but I think it will be worth it. 

He already seems so much healthier just from the exercise and loves being outside (but doesn't like the harness much). Still I have lost a bird before so Gary is NEVER let off the harness!

Your birds will love you don't worry about that!!


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

There's nothing wrong with clipping, its on a case by case basis in my house. Some birds just aren't nice when flighted (bad attitudes) and so they get clipped. Others are perfectly fine flighted because they use that flight to be with us. Since yours will be a baby you need to let it learn to fly first before clipping so that it doesn't hurt itself. Clipping is best for training because it makes the bird more dependent on you but once trained you can let the wings grow out and the bird will generally want to be with you and so fly to you. A harness is a great way you can take your bird outside but as said, don't let them off the harness outside! It takes a lot of patience but its worth it!


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## morla (Aug 15, 2011)

I would never trust a bird to go outside and not fly away. You never know what they think when there inside and outside.


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## darthkrallt (Aug 27, 2011)

I have a sad story to add on the subject. I got my first cockatiel when I was 7 years old. Jeepers was her name, a lutino cockatiel. She was super attached to everyone in the family, and not skittish at all. Trips outside with her started when someone forgot to take her off their shoulder when they went out to check the mail. It sort of carried on from there. We had a big backyard with lots of trees, so my younger brother and I would take her outside with us and put her on a particular tree that she loved to chew the bark of. She was fully flighted and could fly quite well, but never showed any interest in flying when outdoors. This went on for five years, we trusted her completely when outside. This sounds really bad, but there was even a time when she spent the night outside (it was in the summer and not cold, and she was ok in the morning) because I forgot to take her back in (I was a little kid though, don't judge too harshly :C). Then one day while I was away at school, my mom went out to check the mail with her on her shoulder, and seeing a flock of wild birds, Jeepers decided to take off after them. We searched and searched, but never found her.

I've been really careful with Grape, he's very prone to taking off flying when he gets startled. He still gets plenty of time outside in the sunshine, but only with supervision in a cage. So... my advice is not to fly outdoors, even the most trusting of birds can get startled or just decide to take off and get caught up in the wind at a moment's notice.


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## Aadil (Oct 29, 2011)

Thanks allot for all the replys, I will take it all in consideration.
Roxy culver:when you say they must learn first must I let them be able to fly around then cut the wings?
Darthkrallt:Thanks allot for sharing your story and I understand that you was still small.


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

> Roxy culver:when you say they must learn first must I let them be able to fly around then cut the wings?


Yes, this is a common mistake that most people make. They buy a baby (8 weeks old) from a pet store or breeder and immediately clip the wings. The bird doesn't know how to fly as they never learned and then once those wings grow out again they have a hard time learning. Its best to let them bang around the house under supervision THEN clip so that they get the hang of it. It took Fuzzy almost two years to learn how to fly. Once they know how, clipping really isn't a deterrent. They still be able to fly, just wont be able to get much lift, which doesn't mean they can't fly away still...


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## Aadil (Oct 29, 2011)

Ok great.Will they learn how to fly them self or do I have to teach them?
At what age do they approx get they flight feathers?


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## devilangel09 (Feb 5, 2008)

They get the flight feather as soon as they are fully feathered at 6 or 7 weeks but doesn't mean they can fly straight away. If its gonna be tame it's not necessary to clip wings just teach it step up with millet the once it knows that start moving further away and say come till it gets the hang of it 


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## minischn (Jun 5, 2011)

I would just like to note clipping is not a "must" to tame a cockatiel. I got a cockatiel about four months ago who disliked hands. Still doesn't really like them. He was easily spooked, terrified of anything that moved, and just not tame. I didn't clip his feathers and, with a few interesting instances, he'll step onto my hand in his cage to come out and play. He still won't land on me if he's spooked, but he will do short flights to my hand. 
I'm not sure if flegding will be natural or not. But if your bird doesn't quite catch on if you train him to step up, then gradually increase the distance, he'll probably get the clue


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