Do all chicken fly?

[Abriana]

My Dutch bantam flies pretty far, and can take corners too. Chickens naturally want to roost high, away from predators. You can clip their wings if they are flying to places that aren’t safe for them.

 

[Kylo_Hen!]

yes some breed fly better then others

 

[coach723]

I don't clip wings as a general practice, but I have done it. If a bird is regularly flying out then a clipped wing for a feather cycle is better than being dinner for a predator. I've usually done it with adolescents, those old enough to be in the open run with the adults but still light enough to fly well, and once they've been clipped once, they don't usually need it again, they've either gotten heavy enough or they no longer feel the need/or have the habit of flying out. I don't clip for the occasional escape, only when it's become a regular thing.

 

[Abriana]

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.

If you only clip one they can still fly and exercise wing muscles, but will be too off balance to fly over a high fence or into a tree where their owner can’t reach them and put them into the coop at night (my girls make me do all sorts of stuff, like climbing onto the coop roof every single night for like a month to get them down).

 

[AllenK RGV]

I am afraid to clip wings as they need to avoid predators. I cannot make my birds defenceless. If you want to have a non flying breed avoid Sumatra. These guys can fly my entire yard is only one acre but they fly across it easily.

 

[RWise]

Can they fly, sure they can, at least until they get to heavy (think meat bird). I picked up a pair of 1 YO GEMs this spring, after they were here for a week they were airborne, getting 20-30 feet up and flying roun the farm (they never went over the fence).
I lightly clipped their right wing (about 1/2" to 3/4" of the tips, IF I do this it is always the same wing) and no more flight. They can certainly still jump, get on and off the roost, escape etc..
I was gifted an EE hen with both wings severely clipped (think flapping your arms) she could still jump at least 8 feet up!

 

[Col1948]

I have ball and chain on mine, I'm kind though because I gave them a long chain so they can free range.

Just kidding, I clipped the wings lol.

 

[Callender Girl]

I worry that if I clipped my chickens' wings, they might need to escape something or someone and wouldn't have the ability to fly out of harm's way.

Of course, I worry about everything that could be a threat. When my girls are free-ranging (trapped only by a two-foot-high fence designed to convince runner ducks not to wander into the road or back into the field of death where a mink killed one of the drakes), I probably look outside several times an hour to make sure everyone is accounted for.

Plus, if I clipped their wings, I couldn't watch my adorable Faverolles when they fly onto the propane tank, which in turns lets them hop over onto the roof of the white coop or onto the Iowa Blues' run (freed Blues are notorious for NOT wanting to come home for dinner) and, no doubt, laugh at the untrustworthy birds still imprisoned inside.

The Favs and my Buff Orp leap more than they fly; their "flights" are very short. My Wyandotte has shown no interest in aviation; my cochin bantams likewise and my Blues, when they do get out, are better runners than fliers. My Sapphire Gem pullets look more athletic, so I may have a problem when they get older.

 

[Summerbirds]

I have 4 Cornish game crosses and there great flyers,they all have clipped wings but can still fly over my fence. But as they got older they didn't do it as much.
Also my polish is a horrible flyer.
I have also herd that Japanese bantam is a great flyer.

 

[Mimi13]

Ditto to all the above. Chickens basically do what they want. Strange how mine can easily fly over the 4.5’ fence to get to the horse goodies on the other side, but can’t seem to fly back over to the plain old Jane chicken yard. Go figure.