Question from kids: Can chickens fly?

[Piersman2]

Title says it all.... can chickens fly?

We've all seen them sat in their battery pens etc... we've all seen Chicken Run the movie. And we've just seen an advert where a chicken did seem to take off but that was the end of the advert and the chicken may have continued yonder, or just collapsed back down the ground in a feathery clump.

So come on... tell me the truth!

[Piersman2]

P.S. So far I've told them that chickens can fly but have their winfs clipped to prevent it.

So that it the desired correct answer

[SC7]

No they can't.

They can get airborne for short periods (over high fences etc.) but they can fly as such.

Is this a serious question? I thought everyone knew.

Edited by SC7 on Thursday 28th October 21:07

[Sheets Tabuer]

From memory they are jungle dwelling birds from asia, they beat their wings enough to keep momentum going from one tree to another or to get up a tree quickly if they feel threatened on the ground but can't sustain flight so to speak.

Of they have their winfs clipped to prevent it

[lambysdad]

Of course, i've had it in Asia with Lice..........

[Meoricin]

When we got our chickens, the lady who gave them to us told us she'd 'Clipped their wings just like in the book, though to be sure I clipped both'. We had to wait for the feathers to grow back before we could stop them getting on top of the shed.

Can't fly, but can certainly get a large jump out of them, and given a little height can quite happily 'glide' (by madly flapping wings) a fair distance.

[SC7]

lambysdad said:

Of course, i've had it in Asia with Lice..........

[missdiane]

Ours fly to greet us, sometimes they accidently land on the fence which is only 4ft high, our little ones can get out, we cut some feathers off the wing once but it obviously wasn't enough- didn't want to cut too close
Bit worried about them escaping as we have several resident cat visitors and they are only small still

[cazzer]

Ask yerself OP.
Have you ever seen a chicken soar overhead?
Have you even seen film of a chicken soaring overhead?

[missdiane]

cazzer said:

Have you even seen film of a chicken soaring overhead?

Rocky flew, sort of

[cazzer]

missdiane said:

cazzer said:

Have you even seen film of a chicken soaring overhead?

Rocky flew, sort of

He was plastosce....plastosee.....modelling clay.

[filski666]

course they can, but I don't think you are allowed them as carry on - they need to be checked in.

[Piersman2]

SO clipped or naturally unable to fly, you lot are useless!

[mybrainhurts]

They will fly if you drop them out of a Hercules...trust me

[Jasandjules]

mybrainhurts said:

They will fly if you drop them out of a Hercules...trust me

More like falling with style.......

OP, not fly per se as in migrate or soar around the skies but as above they can get airborne and to a reasonable height too - friends of ours often find their chickens rather high up in the trees in their garden......... And on the roof of the stables...

[tribbles]

I thought that the record for the longest recorded chicken flight was around 30 seconds.

[Amused2death]

Well, to answer the nature of the question, and to discover if it is nature or nurture which is instrumental in their attempts to fly I discovered this.... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTNzME_IJDk

Apparently further training is given at varying stages through their short, but valuble lives, at the end of which they become fully qualified to do this...... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4nAc7wab-l4&fea...

All hail the humble chicken

Edited by Amused2death on Thursday 28th October 22:57

[mrmaggit]

Please, if you must clip birds feathers, do it correctly. I once saw a pillock do it wrongly on a TV programme and was straight on to them to point out the error. The WRONG WAY is to cut across the feathers. This is extremely painful (imagine trimming your fingernails at the first knuckle), and causes a great deal of distress to the bird.

The correct way is to hold the bird, extend the wing and trim the broader part of the feather close to, but not cutting into, the spine of the feather. With chickens, their feathers are relatively broad on both sides of the spine, so you may need to do both sides, pigeons and the like you only need to do the broader side.

You should generally only have to trim the outer flight feathers, once the bird has been trimmed, at the next moult you may only have to do one wing, the uneven lift stops the bird from trying to fly.

After a brief preen, the feathers will then return to their normal positions when the bird closes its wing.

[HalfMoon]

Amused2death said:

I discovered this.... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTNzME_IJDk

[cazzer]

mrmaggit said:

,at the next moult you may only have to do one wing, the uneven lift stops the bird from trying to fly.

And if it does manage to take off it will fly in a wide circle and end up back where it started