Chickens with wing claws?

[estheramelia]

Do all chickens have wing claws that are hidden by feathers? I heard there are 12 species of birds today that have wing claws, including emus, swans, ostriches, and ducks. Do chickens fit in?

 

[XxMingirlxX]

Chickens do not have wing claws. They just have wings

ETA : Ah, apparently they do have wing claws. I stand corrected!

 

[sourland]

I have to respectfully disagree with mingirl. More frequently than not the alula ends in a 'wing claw'. Type 'wing claw' in the search bar at the top of the page, and a thread discussing the subject will appear.

 

[Sydney Acres]

I'm not sure how you define "wing claw," but from a practical standpoint, there is a "claw like" structure that I see on many of my birds at slaughter. The alula (see above diagram) near the carpal joint often sticks out, and can be quite sharp. I have been painfully poked by it a few times when I wasn't careful. While it is a "carpal spur" and not technically a "claw," many people might consider it to be a claw. (Claws are at the ends of toes, which is the equivalent of the phalanges in the above diagram. The alula is coming off the equivalent of our wrist. If you look at the "wing claws" in emus and many other species, the claw is at the tip of the wing, coming off the phalanges, essentially the tip of a finger. Here is a link that explains much of it: http://scienceblogs.com/tetrapodzoology/2010/06/30/clubs-spurs-spikes-and-claws/)

 

[pangol1nlover]

I don't think it is a claw

 

[sourland]

It is a remnant from the days when the 'lizard precursors' of the chicken used the claw to climb trees.