WHAT AGE COULD THEY FLY

[RedJungleFowl]

i was wondering about getting some baby red jungle fowl and amercian hen and was wondering at what week or age will they learn to fly or when will there mother teach them to fly

 

[DTchickens]

Depends upon the development of the chicks, but many can fly as early as a few days old. But, when I mention flying for this, I mean that they are capable of getting off of the ground and not as if they can fly 5-6 feet up in the air or anything. As they develop more feathers and grow, this height will increase. Usually once the birds have good flight feathers if they don't have anything to fly on, I'll start implementing roosts in their pens for them to train with and play on, multiple roosts as well at times so they can fly from one to the other and possibly even at different heights (i.e. 2 foot, 3 foot, 4 foot). Even if they are capable of flying though, they will still often times sleep on the ground until they are at least 2 months old or so again depending upon the development of the birds. Some birds will mature very quickly, others mature more slowly.

God bless,
Daniel.

 

[RedJungleFowl]

what about chicks with hens

 

[DTchickens]

what about chicks with hens

That includes chicks with hens or in brooders, the flying is all based upon the development of the chick. The mother will teach them things, but she can't teach them anything until they are ready, and them being ready depends upon their development. Flying tends to be a characteristic that is encoded into the genetics, chicks who have never had a mother or been taught even by a human will learn how to roost/fly because it is instinct; they're not like wild birds where she shoves them out of a nest to see if they will or not. The mother just helps teach them other things, possibly more quickly, which can vary among mothers (some hens are horrible, some are decent, some are excellent).

The only thing I've ever seen a hen do to teach her chicks how to fly/roost is once she figured they were old enough to do so; she flew up on the roost and they either came with her or froze to death/were eaten by predators and usually by this point as well she starts detaching herself from them so they'll go on their own. Most chicks wanting to be with their mother, and being developed enough to fly, will fly up there with her. But, usually before this stage you'll see them flying up on small things anyway if they have access to it way before a mother hen would ever leave them so they already knew how to fly/roost.

God bless,
Daniel.

 

[RedJungleFowl]

oh so

 

[RedJungleFowl]

so will the mother just leave them there

 

[Ntsees]

Don't know about American games, but for the latter, in my observation, the chicks could fly very well at 1 week. As DTchickens mentioned, I'm sure they could start flying earlier but it's just that they can't stay in the air long due to the developing flight feathers.

 

[DTchickens]

Don't know about American games, but for the latter, in my observation, the chicks could fly very well at 1 week. As DTchickens mentioned, I'm sure they could start flying earlier but it's just that they can't stay in the air long due to the developing flight feathers.

American games generally speaking are very similar to the Junglefowl, except they are not quite as flighty (I've had Junglefowl from Ideal to compare, they were the only birds that truly were too flighty for me to be able to want to keep) and they are a lot bigger (about twice the size nearly).

And yes Red, when the mother hen feels it is time for the chicks to be on their own she will leave them there; sometimes a hen will even peck them to make them leave her. Times on this vary from hen to hen, some hens are poor mothers so their chicks never make it to this stage, they're caught by predators or she runs off and leaves them for feed/fear of something catching her so they end up dying. Other hens will raise the birds until they are about 3 months old, some will let them follow them around until they are around 4-5 months. Again, it's in the genes, so if you ever find a hen that is a poor mother don't breed anything from her.

God bless,
Daniel.

 

[RedJungleFowl]

oh and how flighty where the jungle fowl and where did u get them and what would u feed them and how far would they fly

 

[DTchickens]

oh and how flighty where the jungle fowl and where did u get them and what would u feed them and how far would they fly

I'll say this, even when crossed with domesticated breeds down to at least 1/16th Junglefowl blood you will still not be able to get within 10-20 feet of the birds before they run off into the woods. If you catch them, imagine a bird screaming it's head off whilst also flapping it's wings and trying it's hardest to get away from you at any chance it thinks it gets. How far can they fly? Not entirely sure, chickens being ground animals typically and not song-birds usually won't fly further than about 50-60 feet before they land again and run away somewhere.

I got mine from Ideal Poultry, you can find them online, they are not true junglefowl but about the closest thing you're going to get without paying a lot of money. You feed them the same thing you feed regular chickens.

God bless,
Daniel.