Found this:
name Joan
status educator
age 50s
Question - One of my students has a
question he must find the answer for.
Do chickens fly?
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Hi Joan!
yes... chicken can fly. Mostly if they are raised
at country,farms, open space. But they have a poor
flight, not much high...They can fly over fences,
trees, things like that.
OK? Who won the bet?
And thanks for asking NEWTON!
Mabel
(Dr. Mabel Rodrigues)
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The adult domestic fowl can fly to a certain extent, ie. can get
airborne for a few seconds, but the immature offspring can only
flutter its wings.
Howard Barnes
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Ahhh Science is ALWAYS the answer to a dispute!
Actually, they both win a little. My Aunt used to raise chickens. When I'd
go out to feed them, they would fly up and at me as well as run around on
the ground. They were pretty happy I brought them a little something to
eat. They certainly couldn't take wing and leave the place like a Canadian
goose, but my mom actually had a rooster that could fly up into the tree in
the back behind the house. He enjoyed hanging out there at dawn and waking
all of us up. (He was a skinny chap though.)
Which leads me to the rest of the answer. The poultry we raise today for
eating is bred for breast meat. That's what people like, so the birds have
been selectively bred to satisfy our wants. Take your common Butterball you
find at thanksgiving, that bird looks nothing like his wild counterpart.
Mr. Butterball and his cousin the roasting chicken can't really fly anymore;
they're too top heavy and no longer aerodynamic. However, the skinnier
younger hens can flap and jump out of the way.
Our goofy rooster boy evaded capture and hung out in that tree for two
years. He either froze to death one winter, or something bigger than him
got a nice dinner. I kind of miss waking up to the crowing.
So tell those boys to be nice. They both win. No more arguing. "Don't make
me stop this bus!".
Happy science,
Martha Croll
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