Hey there, it’s Ashley at Headrick Homestead, and today we’re asking the question can chickens fly?
Well, the answer is both yes and no. Chickens CAN fly, but it’s not like a robin or a hawk that’s gonna fly super far or fly south for the winter.
Instead, they’re likely to fly up into the trees to roost at night or fly up onto things to explore. So it’s more of a question of how far or how high can chickens fly. And that really depends on the breed and the individual bird.
It Depends on the Chicken Breed
If you have a heavy breed, more like a Black Australorp or Buff Orpington or Speckled Sussex, they’re going to be a lot more likely to stay close to the ground and not fly as high.
If you choose a bantam breed or a leghorn, they’re going to be a lot more likely to like to fly.
In my experience with my heavy breed birds, they pretty much stay on the ground.
I surround their enclosure with a 48 inch Premier One net, and that keeps them in pretty well.
I’ve only ever had problems with young birds trying to escape, so let’s say they’re four months old and super lightweight and have all those feathers. That’s been an issue only for a couple of reasons.
Sometimes Chickens Fly in Trees to Roost at Night
Number one, they’ll fly into the trees at night to roost. These are the trees they have access to.
In the summer, they’ll have access to these trees and sometimes they’ll go 10’ to 15’ up in the air to sleep at night.
When they fly down in the morning, they’ll fly over the fence. And then you have to catch chickens. Not really that fun.
Your Fencing Matters
I’ve also heard chickens flying over fences are more of a problem if you are doing a board fence that they can hop up onto the fence and then hop onto the other side versus an electric netting fence where they’d have to full swoop all the way over.
Do you Have to Worry About Broiler Chickens Flying?
The nice thing is if you’re doing broilers, meat chickens, cornish cross you don’t have to worry about flying.
They are not going to get airborne at all. They’re way too heavy for that.
But What if you Still Have Issues with Chickens Flying Out of your Run?
Let’s say you have chickens that are constantly flying out of their run. What can you do to fix it?
Evaluate your Fencing
First, evaluate your fencing. Is it a board fence or chicken wire fence that is easy for them to perch on top of and hop over?
If your fence is something the can hop up onto and then hop out, they’ll be much more likely to escape.
That’s just one reason why I really love using Premier One electric netting because it doesn’t give them that platform to hop up onto, so they’re much less likely to escape.
Consider Buying a Heavier Breed
Do you have really flighty breeds? Next time you could consider buying heavier breeds that are more likely to stay close to the ground (here are a few my favorite heavy breed brown eggs layers).
Use a Higher Fence
Are you using a short fence? I like to make sure your fences are at least 42 inches for chickens, if not 48in.
If you’re doing something shorter that’s designed more for ducks or geese or hogs, then consider making your fence taller.
Lock your Birds in the Coop for a Few Months
This is what I have always done if I’ve had birds that are flying outside of their electric netting is lock them in the coop for a couple months.
Now, I understand that here in Minnesota we have a really long winter and so the birds are already going to be in the coop for a long time.
But even if you live someplace where they can be out year around, if you want to try to train them to their enclosure, lock them up for a month or two and that really helps.
When I’ve had fence flyers in the past, all I had to do is lock them up for the winter which they are currently right now and by the time next spring rolls around, they’re older, they’re heavier, and they’ve lost a little bit of that desire to fly outside of their area.
When All Else Fails, Clip Their Wings
Now if you’ve tried it all or not willing to lock them up, you can also clip their wings.
Thankfully, I’ve actually never had to do this. But if you do decide to clip their wings, it doesn’t hurt them at all, you’re just clipping their feathers. You’re not actually structurally hurting them at all.
But that is an option if you’re dealing with a lot of flighty birds that are constantly escaping.
So I hope that helps answer your question about can chickens fly? The answer is yes, but not really.
Most of the time they’re going to stick around. They’re going to stick close to the ground unless they’re trying to fly up into a tree to roost or explore a little bit more and that’s when you just have to make sure your fence is right and you choose the right breed if you really want them to stick around
