Can Chickens Fly?

 

From waterfowl and songbirds, all the way to ground dwelling birds, flight is a defining factor. However, there are some birds that fly more frequently (and better) than others. Can chickens fly? 

If flight is defined as air travel over the course of long distances, then chickens definitely can't fly. If flight is defined as any amount of air travel, then chickens can fly. 

The short answer is, yes, chickens can fly over short distances. 

Essentially, the lighter the chicken, the more likely they are to fly. One example would be white leghorns (pictured above). At maturity, they weigh a max of three pounds, and have a wingspan of about 2 feet (tip of one wing to the other wing tip), which is about the same wingspan of any chicken. Since chickens are mostly ground dwelling birds, instinctually, they don't always feel the need to fly. For chickens, flight is almost always used to get away from danger; the only other instance they might fly is for the purpose of getting food (ex: grape vines in trees/on fences) or to get out of something (although they usually try to find a way through or under, say, a fence, instead of immediately flying over it.  

Chickens, like many ground dwelling birds (quail for example) have solid bones, whereas sparrows have hollow bones which cuts out a lot of weight and enables them to fly over long distances. Flapping wing feathers still creates air resistance, but gravity quickly wins out because of the chicken's weight. 

The longest distance that I have ever seen a chicken fly was about 30 feet. She wanted to sleep on the roof of the barn instead of inside it, so I got behind her in the dark and grabbed the only thing I could, which was her tail feathers. She was so scared that she let go of all her tail feathers and flew to the roof of a truck that was parked about 30 feet away. In that instance, she was scared, but on a normal day, she would have rather tried to run away instead of fly. 

The best way to keep a chicken from flying would be to clip her wings. That doesn't mean that the wings themselves get cut off, but the primary wing feathers (which regrow over time). All you need is a pair of scissors. Depending on how comfortable you are working with your chickens, it can either be a one person or two person job. I just grab the chicken by the legs and flip her upside down and put the feet between my knees (to make sure there's no flapping), then lay the chicken on the ground, spread a wing out, and cut the first ten primary feathers (approximately). I usually cut both wings to make sure, but typically, only one wing will do the trick because they will lose balance quickly. 

So, yes, chickens can fly! While they aren't the best, they still can fly when they need to.