Author Topic: Flying chickens...  (Read 6780 times)

Offline cotejy

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Flying chickens...
« on: January 23, 2009, 02:57:58 PM »
I hope not to be banned from this site with this topic...   ;)

I've always wanted to know the answer to the question: would a chicken be able to "fly" if he had the chance to?

It came to me when a was at a farmer friend bbq. I saw a chicken """"fly"""" enough to go over a fence. So chickens wings must have some lift because that wasn't just a jump. Not enough lift to fly very far but would a chicken be able to produce enough lift to reduce his vertical speed in a fall and avoid stalling. Opening another beer  ::drinking::, I than propose we could try drooping a chicken at 1000 feets AGL in slow flight configuration to see if the chicken is able to slow down enough to survive.  ::loony::

The thing is I don't fly when I'm drunk and when I'm sober, I respect chickens too much to use them, even in the name of science (this is the sentence that might save me from being banned...). This might be one of the unanswered question mankind will never answer... (except if I invite the wrong brothers to the next bbq).

What do you guys think? I personally suppose that you can't slow down enough with an airplane so their wings would break because of the airspeed but if not, (from helicopter or glider), they have their chance to survive without breaking a bone.
« Last Edit: January 23, 2009, 03:05:45 PM by cotejy »

Offline Oddball

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Re: Flying chickens...
« Reply #1 on: January 23, 2009, 03:16:49 PM »
During the Market Garden operation a trooper of the British Airborne Division that  dropped into the Arnhem area did carry a live chicken with him in a pouch then once the 'chute opened he would then release her and she would proceed to fly down to the ground later to be picked up by her owner. Aparently the chicken was jump qualified by doing all of her 5 jumps even had her own jump wings made. this was her second (I think) combat jump. remember this from watching A Bridge Too Far and reading the book of the same name by Cornelius Ryan.
"You can teach monkeys to fly better than that!"and "spring chicken to sh**e hawk in one easy lesson"

Offline Ragwing

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Re: Flying chickens...
« Reply #2 on: January 23, 2009, 04:00:14 PM »
Ah, cotejy,
You must be a city boy.
There are many varieties of chickens.
Just like turkeys, some have been breed for flesh and not flying.

When I was a young fledgling, I raised several types of chickens for years.
They would fly up and roost in tall trees and build their nests elsewhere.
Every month, I would use a pair of scissors and trim their wing feathers to keep them in the barnyard.

Offline spacer

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Re: Flying chickens...
« Reply #3 on: January 23, 2009, 05:14:41 PM »
We had Rhode Island Reds. We had a chicken-wire overhead cover over 'em, so never found whether they could fly the coop,
but they sure tried.  :D

Great eggs, though.

Offline ZK Kiwi

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Re: Flying chickens...
« Reply #4 on: January 24, 2009, 09:39:44 AM »
I'm sure the original pre-domesticated chickens were reasonable flyers - far better than the fethered roasts which have now been bred.

I recall reading an article a few years back about some guy in the 1950s in England who kept his Tiger Moth in a barn shared with a flock of domestic fowl. One day whilst flying he discovered he had a rooster as stowaway in the empty front cockpit (appropriate term in this case).the rooster seemed OK with flying, until at about 2000ft he decided to hop onto the cockpit coaming to have a better look. This wasnt too good as he was swept away into the slipstream. Aparently he then descended gently to the ground crowing from time to time, but not particularly bothered. the pilots brought the Tiger Moth down as quickly as he could, afraid the bird was a goner. on landing he found the rooster wandering around quite happy. regardless of their flying ability, small animals and birds reach their terminal velocity very quickly, and hence dont reach the high speeds a human would. The pilot and a mate later incorporated a "rooster drop" in a routine they performed at a number of airshows, the rooster being quite happy about it all. Unfortunatley the Humane Society found out about it and insisted the rooster be given a parachute, which meant that it couldnt open its wings properly, nor walk around after landing, which stressed the bird quite a lot, so the Rooster drop was removed from the routine - it appears the society were unaware that birds were capable of flying!
If it was supposed to be easy, everyone would be doing it!

Offline Rooster Cruiser

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Re: Flying chickens...
« Reply #5 on: January 24, 2009, 06:39:51 PM »
We had Rhode Island Reds. We had a chicken-wire overhead cover over 'em, so never found whether they could fly the coop,
but they sure tried.  :D

Great eggs, though.

"We roared up off of that shoulder
spraying pine cones, rocks and boulders
and put 400 head of them Rhode Island Reds
and a couple of burned out Roosters on the line."

CW McCall
Wolf Creek Pass

"...Look out below... 'Cause here we go!"
"Me 'n Earl was haulin' chickens / On a flatbed outta Wiggins..."

Wolf Creek Pass, by CW McCall

Offline Turbomallard

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Re: Flying chickens...
« Reply #6 on: January 24, 2009, 11:38:21 PM »

"We roared up off of that shoulder
spraying pine cones, rocks and boulders
and put 400 head of them Rhode Island Reds
and a couple of burned out Roosters on the line."

CW McCall
Wolf Creek Pass

"...Look out below... 'Cause here we go!"

I used to have two CW McCall albums... on 8 track.  ::loony:: Now THERE is a technology I don't miss.

Too big
 to fly,
 dodo ugly
 dodo must die,

"Dodo"
Genesis

 ::silly::

TM
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Offline Rooster Cruiser

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Re: Flying chickens...
« Reply #7 on: January 25, 2009, 07:25:29 AM »
Be careful around those Dodos.  I just have to reference the movie "Ice Age", where they pissed off the Dodos and they attacked using "Tae Kwon Dodo!"  It looked very scary!   :o
"Me 'n Earl was haulin' chickens / On a flatbed outta Wiggins..."

Wolf Creek Pass, by CW McCall

Offline Oddball

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Re: Flying chickens...
« Reply #8 on: January 25, 2009, 01:37:59 PM »
yep they wiped themselves out just for a water melon.
"You can teach monkeys to fly better than that!"and "spring chicken to sh**e hawk in one easy lesson"

Offline Turbomallard

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Re: Flying chickens...
« Reply #9 on: January 25, 2009, 02:24:16 PM »
One upon a time, when my workplace was not only tolerable but fun, if somebody didn't know something in a meeting or hadn't gotten something done, somebody would say "If you weren't smart enough to plan ahead, then doom on you!!!" and the rest of us would start chanting "Doom on you... doom on you... doom on you..."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BONgAIBlb4A

Ah, those were the days...

TM
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Re: Flying chickens...
« Reply #10 on: January 26, 2009, 07:13:09 PM »
Ah, Wolf Creek Pass... Did they ever put guardrails on that road?
I used to haul Coke syrup to Durango, and I took the Pass on those runs.

Never peeled off the top row of chickens, though.  ::rofl::

Offline cotejy

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Re: Flying chickens...
« Reply #11 on: January 26, 2009, 07:40:31 PM »
Quote
Ah, cotejy,
You must be a city boy.

NOOOOO!!!!  ::sick:: He said it.  ::complaining: ;D ;D Born and raised where the closest village is at 10 miles and had 300 population. I remember having to use the skidoo to go to the store because the roads were closed. The post office is inside the mayor house and the tavern is locatated in the fire station.  ::cowboy::

But you're right, haven't saw a lot of chickens. Our production was firewood, logs and maple sirop.

Quote
Every month, I would use a pair of scissors and trim their wing feathers

Interesting, I knew they would do this for ducks but for chickens!


Offline Ragwing

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Re: Flying chickens...
« Reply #12 on: January 26, 2009, 10:24:39 PM »
Quote
Ah, cotejy,
You must be a city boy.
NOOOOO!!!!  ::sick:: He said it.  ::complaining: ;D ;D Born and raised where the closest village is at 10 miles and had 300 population. I remember having to use the skidoo to go to the store because the roads were closed. The post office is inside the mayor house and the tavern is locatated in the fire station.  ::cowboy::

But you're right, haven't saw a lot of chickens. Our production was firewood, logs and maple sirop.

Quote
Every month, I would use a pair of scissors and trim their wing feathers

Interesting, I knew they would do this for ducks but for chickens!
It was the only way I could keep the birds at home.
Just like Chuck, they kept flying the coop!

Glad to hear that you were raised Wet and Wild.
Herding chickens are not for everybody!!

Offline Turbomallard

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Re: Flying chickens...
« Reply #13 on: January 27, 2009, 12:10:31 AM »

Interesting, I knew they would do this for ducks but for chickens!



Hey now!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 ::eek::  ::eek::  ::eek::


Mommmmm! They're picking on me!

TM
« Last Edit: January 27, 2009, 01:55:42 AM by Turbomallard »
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