What chickens have the best flying ability?

[lcw1995]

Iv'e been loosing my chickens latley to something that I have no idea what. It happens most times during the day when im not here since im at school. I'm not sure its a hawk because theres usually a trail of feathers where it chases my birds then catches it, takes it into the woods, and then takes it under a brushpile to eat it. I'm not sure what it is because like I said, I'm not here. And most often its my bantam cochins,(since they cant run or fly very fast).

So I think im going to make a pen for the cochins and then just get the birds with the best flying ability to free range. Because alot of the time they likke to go over into the horse field into the briars and what not and I want them to be able to fly up and over the briar patches if need be.

So what are the birds that can fly the best?

THanks,

Cole.

 

[carolinagirl58]

I don't think any breed of domestic chicken can actually fly like a bird, although some can get off the ground and go over things better than others. I used to keep Old English Game Bantams and they'd roost high up in the trees at night. I had game chickens for a while too. One of them ran away and lived in the woods on his own for at least a year. I'd hear him way off in the woods crowing so I knew he was ok, but we never did catch him. The game chickens roosted high in the trees too. And no fences stopped them. But I don't think even those chickens could actually get off the ground and fly for any distance.

 

[wilds of pa]

araucana can fly pretty good and get up in the tree's to if they want to.. had to cover there 7 ft runs, they would go over it esp the younger ones

 

[gootziecat]

Spitzhauben, Brabanter, Norwegian Jaerhon, probably most Mediterranean breeds and lightweight breeds

 

[Illia]

Araucanas, American and English Games, Polish, most of the lighter weight breeds. (ones who are normally lightweight, not production bred ones

)


If you want good free ranging fliers, go with Games or Araucanas. Both are very intelligent, heat and cold hardy, broody, and the Araucanas' lack of tail helps them escape land predators much easier.

 

[The Turken Lady]

If you want something that can FLY...Then get a sumatra. The can jump 6 feet into the air with their wings clipped and higher without. My hen,Thalia flew 6 feet in the air,onto a tall fence and then jumped the length of a FOOTBALL FIELD onto a 15 foot pine tree. She jumped down,fine and happy. Phoenixes can fly a great amount too,same with jungle fowl. Sumatras are a nice breed if you work with them from a young age. They'll roost in the trees and they can get away from most ANY predator,since they're directly descended from jungle fowl.

 

[InviteTanner]

I second the Sumatras. I have twenty-five young ones and at a couple of months old they can fly ten feet up into trees with no effort whatsoever.

 

[Chris09]

American Game fowl.
Mine will roost in the loft of the barn (10 foot up) and as chicks (week or two old) they have the ability to roost 6 to 8 foot up.

Chris

 

[phasianidae]

Here is a thread with pics of flying chickens: https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=445985

 

[poultrycrazy]

If you really want a good free ranging chicken that can easily get away from a predator, you should go with sumatras bantam or LF, old english games bantam or LF, or american games Bantams or LF. And any really lean looking game mixes or anything of the sort are really good for that kind of situation bantams being a little better at flying than LF.