and
Followup: Chickens can so fly!
From the second link:
“… chickens are ‘spurt flyers,’ that is, they will flap up to a low tree or fence post to roost for the night or when they feel in danger.”
There are still feral chickens in Hawaii, mainly on the island of Kauai, but there are some here on Oahu too. We recently saw some near Hanauma Bay, and they had nests up in the trees, spurt-flying up into the branches.
Maybe chickens have changed over the years, but when growing up I did indeed see chickens fly, including laying hens. It was always up to some tree limb or a higher point in the henhouse, but they did fly. Maybe it is all in how they are housed. Chickens with more room to wander around might have stronger wing muscles.
We have chickens. Some can fly, some cannot. The heaviest breed of chicken, the jersey giant, is too heavy. Most heavy breeds are just not made for flight. Some lighter breeds can indeed fly farther than others. Most others can fly a little (up or over a bit), just are not capable of prolonged flight.
It does make somewhat of a difference as well if they are confined or free. They do need to exercise the muscles needed.
This was an old recycled article, but since it was posted and there are new comments, this is a video recently posted to Facebook.
(I hope the URL works – it shows hundreds of chickens flying!)
Have I told folks here about the chicken that flew across my mom’s living room?
Why did the chicken fly across the road?
I used to work part time for a stable many years ago and we had a bunch of chickens wandering around all the time. One rooster in particular would take off each evening and fly to his roost which was well over 100 yards away possibly 200 yards. Someone had told me he was a silky crossed with a gamecock I believe but he flew just like a normal bird and it appeared effortless.