How far up can a chicken jump?

[aart]

The funny (and concerning) part is that the yard is sloped, so sometimes when they land after flying down about 10' they go head-over-heals when they land.

hopefully grass there for a softer 'landing'.

 

[Ninjasquirrel]

We bought a used baby gate to keep the chickens off our porch. We have golden comets so they aren't very large birds. Even with the baby gate 4 inches off the ground they can still jump it. We have to put a stick above it to prevent them but some still prefer to limbo under it. I've finally given up

 

[Maugwa]

My Father in law was a mason, and had his own business. we got all kinds of stuff here. Brick pavers blocks, you name it. Coop floor is red brick as well as apron outside of coop.

That's what I am too, a mason, and have been for over 30 years, well when I'm not herding chickens. And yea, it's handy having all those spare brick and various block around, I've got them everywhere. I try to never let lumber contact the ground if I can get masonry under it. One note though that everybody gets wrong (I know what they mean though since everybody gets it wrong together). Those 8x8x16 block with two holes in them are not cinder block. A cinder block is something that was made historically using cinders (charcoal) to make them lighter. Somewhere around the1930s or 1940s they started using pumice, or perilite (sand popped like popcorn), or vermiculite (mica popped like popcorn) to lighten the block, or just concrete for heavyweight block. A real cinder block is covered with little black dots where cinders are exposed, and a block layer who handles them gets as dirty as a cartoon chimney sweep. Of all the block I ever laid, I only had to lay these once, and that was three pallets that sat behind a barn for 60 or 70 years - and that was 3 pallets too many lol. I've come across them other times doing repairs on old buildings, and had to demo them out, but they got replaced with modern lightweights, since you can't even find new cinder blocks since longer than I've been alive. Your father-in-law I'm sure knows about these, but very few people who are not masons do - they call 'em all cinder blocks.

 

[so lucky]

One day after a snow storm, followed by 1/2" of ice, I looked out the upper story deck door to see one of my EEs on the deck, just wandering around (gingerly). I think she flew up there, about 12 feet. The steps were very treacherous, mounds of slick ice, so I didn't think she could have hopped up that way.
But she was a real light weight, and easily startled.

 

[aart]

Those 8x8x16 block with two holes in them are not cinder block.

I know, I know....thought that when I typed it(now fixed) old colloquialism I usually avoid.

 

[Maugwa]

I know, I know....thought that when I typed it(now fixed) old colloquialism I usually avoid.

It's all good everyone knows what you meant - I've even seen box stores, Home Depot, Lowe's, etc. use that term, so most customers know what they mean too. Just like I called them 8x8x16, when I know they're 7 5/8" x 7 5/8" x 15 5/8" before the joint is added, it's simpler and more understood the first way.

 

[aart]

It's all good everyone knows what you meant - I've even seen box stores, Home Depot, Lowe's, etc. use that term, so most customers know what they mean too. Just like I called them 8x8x16, when I know they're 7 5/8" x 7 5/8" x 15 5/8" before the joint is added, it's simpler and more understood the first way.

Some 'bad (inaccurate) terms' never die.
Now the nominals are pretty acceptable nomenclature...
...unless planning a build, then they can get folks into trouble - those pesky joints.

 

[chkva]

This makes me laugh because my hens that like to lay on the front porch sometimes choose to fly off the porch railing when they're done rather than exit the way they entered, i.e., down the steps. The funny (and concerning) part is that the yard is sloped, so sometimes when they land after flying down about 10' they go head-over-heals when they land. I have no idea why they insist on doing this.

Mine do the same thing! Instead of following me back down the stairs they'd rather fly at me once I get to the grass... I'm always ducking and dying laughing first thing in the morning. Some have crashed right into my head or flew too far and whacked the coop or dog park fence one chicken slides down the rails of the deck to get down. Chickens are hilarious creatures

 

[Maugwa]

Mine do the same thing! Instead of following me back down the stairs they'd rather fly at me once I get to the grass... I'm always ducking and dying laughing first thing in the morning. Some have crashed right into my head or flew too far and whacked the coop or dog park fence one chicken slides down the rails of the deck to get down. Chickens are hilarious creatures

I'm not sure about this, but I have a theory. When it comes to stairs, I don't think I've ever seen one hop down a step at a time, even though they hopped up them one at a time. I think maybe they worry about catching their rear on the step they are jumping down from, and a little more for a landing strip, and most steps are about 11" wide, so to jump out far enough to have plenty of butt clearance and stopping room, I think maybe they see that as over the next step, but they don't want to catch it, or the next, or the next, in the rear either, and the landing strip required gets longer, so they opt for trying flight to clear them all.

 

[HenOnAJuneBug]

Those 8x8x16 block with two holes in them are not cinder block.

Not always, but usually they are cinder blocks. Cinder refers to composition, not form factor. The lighter ones are usually cinder blocks and the heavier ones, concrete blocks.