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Chickens in My Backyard, Eggs in my Basket

Can Chickens Fly?

For a lot of people, when thinking of chickens they think of the docile slightly rounded little brown hen, as featured in many farmyard scenes in films, free range eggs tv ads and books over the years. We imagine clucking, an occasional non-progressive flapping, but usually two feet on the ground, bottom in the air and beak in the grass. In many ways this is true. However, this is not the case for all chickens, and is something to be kept in mind when building or purchasing a chicken coop (specifically the run part), or adopting a chicken-keeping lifestyle at all (fences may need to be raised if you don’t want your chickens to go visiting with your neighbours).

chicken-incarceration

The History

In the wild, the red jungle fowl, the original ‘chicken’ so to speak, predominantly used flight in order to quickly remove itself from the claws and jaws of its predators. Fight or flight. Lacking in teeth, armor, or venom, and with limited power if attempting to use spurs or their beak to defend themselves, their flight was (and still is) most effective for quick getaways (in comparison to raptors or owls, which utilize their flight for hunting and swift, distant travel, as well).

As the red jungle fowl evolved overtime, and coupled with mans active development of her as an egg layer, this inability to travel far distances only grew. With the majority of food and care provided for domestic chickens needed their evolutionary traits to escape from predators less and less.

Motives for Flight

Chickens are fundamentally grounded birds as dirt and grass usually provide their most easily accessible and in turn primary forms of food. Why would you want to fly anywhere when you can peck and scratch to your hearts content in your own yard? (in between sunbathing, dustbathing, roosting and chasing insects of course). Chickens are not extremely frequent fliers for the most part although some of the smaller breeds can be a bit more ‘flighty’ and decide to roost in a tree or scratch about in your neighbours yard if the fence is low enough. Instances in which a chicken is startled or frightened will cause it to flap a few inches above the ground in a flurry of panic and feathers (mine also use their wings for extra speed when running to get to any treats that are about to be handed out). Additionally, chickens may fly to meet particular goals such as escaping the pen/fenced area to have a nose about somewhere new, or when attempting to assert themselves within a group, by way of loud squawks, puffed up feathers, and the belligerent beating of wings.

leg-it

How High Can They Go?

The height by which a chicken is able to fly and maintain flight is dependent upon the mass of the bird and size of the wing. In general it is the smaller bred chickens, such as the various “bantam” breeds, or the lighter built breeds such as leghorns and their like which tend to be most airborne breeds, being able to fly anywhere from 25-50 meters. In addition, Araucanas or Red Stars are known to enjoy flying, and will often be found flitting around the yard or “mysteriously” appearing on rooftops or tree branches.  In terms of heavier breeds, the Orpington, Australorp, and Barred Rock for example, are all the least inclined and rarely found flying chicken varieties. They tend to jump up to higher levels – in stages if there are any – for example my orpingtons will jump onto a concrete block by my coop, then the nestbox, then the coop roof itself (which is only about five feet high) rather than ‘fly’ up there. There is some flapping to get down but it doesn’t take them too far.

The lightest chickens will sometimes be capable of flying over lower fences or walls, some even managing to go above 6 feet. Chickens tend not to be the most overtly active creatures, and many will either not feel the need to fly, have the ability to fly reduced by ‘wing clipping’, or are just too rotund to want to try anything too exhausting (I know that feeling!).

happy-relaxing

Solutions and Conclusions

As with most birds, chickens do possess the ability to fly to some extent, though domestication has reduced its necessity as a whole. Certain breeds and varieties of chickens have been found to be either excellent, terrible, or somewhat wonky fliers and some are either less inclined or simply less capable. With even the best flyers you are more likely to find that they have used their ability to get into a tree or over a fence than you are to see them circling the coop in the air.

Once a chicken has a handle on where ‘home’ is (this is usually achieved by keeping them in their coop/pen for at least the first two weeks) they generally will return home to roost before it gets dark. It is highly preferable that they do get locked into their coop each night for their own safety. Of course no chicken has ever read the books telling them what they should do so you may find yours decide they like roosting on your porch or in a tree better. If that is the case a light on in the coop for an hour or two after dark may help persuade them to head there using their natural inclination to go towards a light if they keep leaving it too late to get settled where you want them to be before it gets dark. You may find manually putting them into the coop for a few nights is the most practical way to establish where they should be (if they haven’t flown up too high to reach). If they really hate to go into the coop there may be a reason such as rats, snakes, mites, lack of ventilation etc.

If you’re concerned about disturbing the neighbors or any possible catastrophes of lost chickens such as the possibility of them being taken by predators (or people), you may either consider clipping their wings or opting for a less mobile breed of chicken in the first place (a list of chicken breeds and their various attributes can be found here). Happy chicken-keeping!

Intestinal Worms in Chickens

As with most other pets and livestock, chickens, too can get intestinal worms. Worms are parasites and as such will literally drain their victims of their energy and good health with common signs of an infected chicken being things like :

  • Reduced egg numbers
  • Runny droppings
  • Lethargic
  • Weight Loss
  • Pale comb and unkempt feathers
  • Generally run down

These symptoms are quite generic and feature in many illnesses but if a hen shows these kinds of signs and hasn’t been wormed recently there is a good chance that it could be down to worms but to be sure (and to know exactly what kind of worm to treat for such as roundworms, tapeworms and hairworms etc.) you can get a test done on some droppings by a vet for confirmation. Sometimes you can even see the worms in your chickens droppings yourself (they may even get into their eggs in some extreme cases!)

Worms are easily and quickly spread in chicken droppings, flies, earthworms and snails, mice and rats etc. so if one of your flock has them then it is safe to assume that they all will.

chickens chasing worms

Ways to prevent/minimise worms can include good sanitation in the coop and run, ensuring food is not left out which can attract rats and following a regular worming routine.

To reduce flies in the run I pick up their droppings twice a day and sprinkle a little food grade Diatomaceous Earth over where the droppings were (there is often a damp spot or little remnants left behind) and that seems to keep the flies away. It must be the food grade kind and because of that it is fine for the chickens to eat some D.E. as they are pecking around – in fact some people actively feed a little food grade D.E. to their chickens for the perceived health benefits.

It is believed that giving chickens apple cider vinegar can also help prevent/reduce worms – my personal worming routine is to give my chickens ACV once a week for their general good health (I hope) and also worm them once every three months with a general wormer. Some people prefer to wait until they see worms, diagnose the type of worms they are treating for and then worm their flock. It really depends on what you feel happiest with (or what your vet advises).

Buff Cochin Bantams

Buff Cochin Bantams numbered among the spoils of the British during the ransacking of the Chinese summer palace in Peking in the year 1860. These were prized very highly by a ‘British fancier’ who was serving his country in China. This officer sent them home to a friend, who bred a few and later loaned them to a Mr. Kerrick.

These were inbred for nearly twenty years. Consequently their stamina gradually weakened, and sterility resulted.

During the year of 1884 some bantams were bred from the standard or large Cochin.

Buff Cochin Bantam Rooster

Photo taken by radellaf

Cochin Bantams are the most practical and useful of all the varieties of bantams. They have a very good constitution, thrive well in any climate, are capital layers, very docile, and stand confinement very well. Their only draw-back being their foot feathering. This can be remedied, however, by supplying them with fine sand or gravel. This will protect their foot feathers and prevent them from being broken and soiled as the case often is.

Cochin Bantams do not obtain their full form under sixteen to twenty months of age. Many of the narrowest cockerels develop into the finest cocks. The same being the case with the females. Many of the most inferior pullets develop into the broadest back and finest cushioned hens. It is, therefore, well to retain the finest colored specimens. It must be definitely understood that not all the Cochin Bantams develop into better cocks and hens than when they were cockerels and pullets.

I shall now describe the different sections :

Comb, face, ear lobes and wattles : bright red
Eyes : bay color
Beak : rich yellow
Head and neck hackle : rich golden buff
Back, wing bow and saddle : rich golden buff
Tail : rich golden buff (free from white or black)
Remainder of plumage : rich golden buff. A point to be obtained is to have one even color from head to tail, although the difficult point to achieve is the breast color.
Legs and feet : rich yellow.

Buff Cochin Bantam Rooster with Ameraucana Hen

Photo taken by radellaf

The female should conform to the above standard of color as the male. With the exception that the females are a little bit lighter.

When mating the birds it is best to use a male a trifle darker than the females. Some breeders have produced such a pale lemon color in the buffs that many of the breeders are continually mating their lightest birds together with the expectation that the progeny will be those beautiful birds so much admired by all. From such a mating the progeny usually produce a good per cent of birds with white in flights and taile coverts.

The best method of mating is to select a cock of an even shade that is a trifle darker than the hens. From such a mating a good per cent of the good birds can be bred with less culls.

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