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Flying

Whether or not birds fly has a great deal to do with their health. Birds are super athletes in the wild, they're designed that way. No matter what you feed a bird, how much fat and how many calories, can the bird be truly healthy if it doesn't get exercise? And if birds flyso many miles in the wild, flying around the home for a few hours a day doesn't even compare. Yet most people keep their birds clipped.

I let all my birds wings grow out in the past and every time my Tiel would get a real attitude & end up clipped again. His wings have grown out again and since I read Dr. McCluggage's book, I will not clip again. He presents a good argument for allowing birds to fly. I believe the exercise is not only physically healthy, but mentally so as well. His flight is amazing, the turns, stops & starts are truly acrobatic. Sometimes he flies through the house extremely hard and fast, it is unbelievable. That has to be a healthy physical and mental outlet for him. Now we just deal with the attitude using a great deal of understanding & some flower essences. The flying is more important than getting nipped or having a hard time getting him back in his cage. This bird has behavioral problems, so don't think that all birds will develop an attitude if they fly.

My Quaker with Fatty Liver Disease NEEDS the exercise of flying! She's always been verweight & scared of flying until we started holistic care for her last year when she dropped a lot of weight. She's now almost 11 years old & just now learning to really fly well. Whether or not she flies in a day is also a good indicator of how she's feeling and I adjust her supplements according to how she feels.

My untamed budgie has always had her full wings and never been able to fly, congenital defect the vet said, but didn't do any x-rays, etc. If she was tame I would work with her more to see if she could fly one day, we're working on the taming right now.

Of course, flying birds in your home has risks and adds a tremendous amount of additional responsibility for the owner. My birds are observed when they're out & we are very strict about rules and safety. A lot of thought needs to go into it before you decide to take this on, but I wouldn't trade it for the world.

Leanne