Flying

[lang4800]

I am getting Rhode Island Reds. I am concerned about letting them graze my land because of the risk of them flying.

-Do these hens fly?
-Is there a way to keep them from flying?

Thanks for the help.

 

[DavidKerk]

Rode Island Reds are not usually good flyers. 20 feet of down "flight" is the best mine have ever done. You can clip their wings if you like. If you decide to do this, I'm sure you can find a thread here on BYC for it. I hope this helps!

 

[Triple Willow]

Do you mean flying away? They will be so big that they won't fly much. About 3-4 feet off the ground for maybe 10 feet will be about it. They could fly or fly/climb out of a 6 foot pen with no cover on it.

 

[chfite]

I have New Hampshire Reds. They aren't going anywhere. As was said, they can fly about 10 feet horizontally and maybe 2 feet off the ground at maturity. Now they can run really fast.

Chris

 

[cackleberrycam]

If you do decide to clip their flight feathers, clip only one of the wings so that when they try to fly, they can only go around in circles and will not be able to get of the ground. If you clipped both wings of each bird, then they might still manage to fly over the fence. Good luck with your chickens!