why cant chickens fly?

Answer 1

The weight to much for there wings!

Answer 2

Domesticated ducks, chickens, geese, and turkeys have been bred for size, not flight. Selective breeding means picking the best qualities and breeding only those animals which exhibit those qualities. Flying is NOT a good quality in a domesticated animal, while big size is.

Many of the answers here are correct, to a point. Yes, some domesticated birds DO fly. Some birds do have their wings clipped. Some are just fat.

I raise muscovy ducks which are not entirely flightless. They fly for the first year of their lives, and then most of them get too big to fly. It's not because they are overfed, but because that's just how they've been bred.

I used to have some little red chickens, which never flew, but sort of hopped and flapped a lot. A friend raises bantam chickens, which can fly pretty well, but only to perch in trees. So, there is no One answer to your question.

Sorry,

Edit: wing clipping is the process of trimming the end of the flight feathers, and is much like cutting your hair. It's not permanent, as the feathers grow back after a molt, and it's not painful.

Answer 3

Most of the common breeds of chicken kept are too heavy to be able to fly.This because they get very fat very quickly-they were bred to do this so they would be a better source of meat.

However some breeds (mostly the ornamental breeds which were bred to look nice not for meat)of hens can fly albeit not very strongly.They can fly a short distance in level flight or fly up into the brances of a tree though.

This is much the same as the wild ancester of domestic hens which is also not a strong flier.

Answer 4

Chickens can fly , like turkeys , pheasants , grouse but only when they need to , flying is a waste of energy , if you can wander around rumaging about for a living , in a flock , why fly . Do you run about flat out at all times , same thing get the idea

Answer 5

Ahem, I live on a farm and grew up on a farm and the correct answer is that they can.

Years ago, we had small "chicken houses" in the trees (no fooling) and at night the chickens would fly up into the trees to roost at night and fly up into the houses to lay their eggs.

Much like a turkey (wild or domestic) their weight is too much for them to cover long distances. We only clipped one wing and that was only if we had a "repeat offender" who flew over the 6 foot fences that we later built around a "chicken yard" with a large chicken house in it. Inside the chicken house, we built not only bays for the females to lay eggs in but also roosts because that is how they sleep--the way you see a wild bird grappling a limb.

Answer 6

Ever seen a football fly?

Now tell me a chicken can't fly (it may take similar motivation, though).

Answer 7

I was raised on a farm with chickens and no, we didn't clip their wings to keep them from flying. They are too heavy for their wings because they are meant to be eaten and produce eggs. We were not allowed to have them as pets because we had them for dinner. I never liked them because when I went to gather the eggs...they would peck at my hands.

Answer 8

Hi
actually some chickens can fly it depends on the size and weight of the bird itself, i keep a smallholding of chickens and I assure you some of them can fly.

Answer 9

Chickens can fly!(For about 10-15 seconds)
Healthy chickens can fly properly like other birds. its just that farmers make their livestock plump and fat so ONLY FAT CHICKENS CAN'T FLY!!

Answer 10

Chickens can fly. over short distances but usually the ones that are in the farmyards have had their wings clipped to stop them doing so.

Answer 11

chickens cant fly because their wings and wing feathers are too short