Do all chicken fly?

[AllenK RGV]

I am only into my second year of raising chicken. Our chicken can fly 20 feet up into the trees and fly over the 6 foot coop fence every morning and evening as they desire.

Is this normal? I know they are birds and have wings I just didn't believe chicken can fly.

 

[Trish1974]

Some breeds can fly better than others. Rumpless araucanas are some of the best flyers I have encountered.

 

[coach723]

Depends on the breed/body type, and age. Young birds that haven't reached full weight can often fly better, some breeds that have smaller bodies/less weight can fly decently. If you need to keep it in, then covering the run with netting, or clipping the wings may help. Wing clipping works on some, but some will manage to compensate and fly some anyway, if you clip, do only one wing, that will cause imbalance. Lots of articles and videos on how to do it on line.

 

[Shadrach]

I am only into my second year of raising chicken. Our chicken can fly 20 feet up into the trees and fly over the 6 foot coop fence every morning and evening as they desire.

Is this normal? I know they are birds and have wings I just didn't believe chicken can fly.

No, not all chickens can fly. Some meat breeds for example can’t really fly; some can jump with wing assistance.
The breed of chicken gives some indication for its propensity to take wing. All the bantams here fly, some make 30 feet up and travel 50 to 60 yards in the air easily. The Marans here will get off the ground under pressure but don’t really fly.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Silkies can't fly because of the feather type. As far as I know all other chickens can fly. Some fly better than others, the big heavy ones generally don't fly nearly as well as smaller leaner versions. I've had full-sized fowl chickens launch from a roost 5 feet high, fly forward about 7', then take a sharp left and fly out of the coop door to land in the run. Mine are hatchery birds the size many of us have, not the large show-quality size birds. Flying ability is not equal among all chickens.

There is a big difference in "can" and "will". The difference is motivation. Just because they can fly a certain height or distance doesn't mean they will unless they want to.

 

[Dona Worry]

Wyandottes are SUPPOSED to be a heavy breed that tolerates confinement well, and not great flyers.

Someone forgot to tell my 4. They were the first to figure out they could fly over the electric fence.

 

[RumneyRoost]

I'm sure mine could fly if they really wanted to. The most I've seen though is maybe 3' off the ground for a distance of 10'-15'. Or they'll jump into the raised coop when I'm cleaning which is about 3'6".
The "free range" pen is 30' x 50' and the fence is 5' high. No one has ever tried to escape. Either they have everything they need inside the fence so they don't feel the need to explore, or they're smart enough to realize that the fence is also there to keep the chicken eating dog out...

P.S. I've got a speckled Sussex, a barred rock, a double laced barnevelder, and two cream legbars. The legbars are lighter so they would probably have the best flying ability.

 

[Brahma Chicken5000]

All the breeds I’ve had (Light Brahmas, White Leghorns, Splash Andalusian, Golden Sebrights, Ameraucanas, Easter Egger, mixes bantams) have been able to fly well. The only ones with problems have been my Silkies and my Frizzle Bantam hen. I had Sebrights at a time that would fly effortlessly up onto the roof of my vestibule that was 12 feet off the ground. My 8 pound F1 Easter Egger hen gets up on the perch that’s 4.5 off the ground in the run just fine. My Ameraucanas can get 4 feet off the ground when they get excited. My Old English Game Bantam x Golden Sebright pullet has her chicks roosting on the perch 4.5 off the ground when they were 4 weeks old

Here are the 2 pullets on the run roof that is 7-8 feet tall

 

[karissapaul]

you should clip their wings...

 

[Brahma Chicken5000]

you should clip their wings...

I dislike wing clipping because I want to encourage my chickens to fly up onto roosts and exercise their wing muscles. I see too many runs that have no perches for the chickens to use. The chickens seem to really enjoy the vertical space.