3 ms·

It's the reality equivalent of that WKRP In Cincinnati bit where they toss turkeys out of a helicopter. As God is my witness I thought turkeys could fly.

mauvehaus 4y ago
Wild ones can. My wife and I were hiking into the dusk one evening a couple years ago and all of a sudden the tree canopy was clamorous with the sounds of large animals lumbering through the branches. And not like the way that a chipmunk sounds huge in the dark either. We were both starting to get a little concerned (on the path to half-terrified, if I'm being honest) until we saw a turkey loudly alight on a branch as it flew up to roost for the night. I've definitely also had a whole flock take off out of the field next to the road we used to live on and fly off to the other side as I've driven by. They are remarkably graceful in the air for as large and ungainly as they look on the ground. I'm still not convinced that they're national bird material, though.
- bombcar 4y ago
  Same with chickens, as long as they're not the ones bred for meat that are nearly perfect spheres, they can "fly" a little bit to get into perches; it's more akin to power jumping with style, but wild birds are nowhere near as fat as you might expect.
  - mauvehaus 4y ago
    I. Know. We have a number of layers that varies based on how recently we've acquired more and how busy the local foxes have been[0]. They aren't graceful, but they'll get places you'd be surprised to find them. And they'll usually poop all over when they get there. They also don't much care for walking through the snow. They'll noisily and gracelessly fly 50' if there's scratch grain scattered on the driveway. My sister-in-law raises meat birds, and she's done the Cornish Crosses[1] a couple of times. They'll get big enough that they don't really walk well without dragging their breasts on the ground, never mind flying. I'm kind of hoping she's done with them and that I don't have to help process them again. The Freedom Rangers that made up half of the last flock were a lot more pleasant to deal with. Even so, the smell of chicken shit and wet feathers usually puts me off eating chicken for a week afterwards. [0] On the bright side, it means we haven't yet had to have a conversation about what to do with a layer who has aged out of laying. [1] Which she refers to as "mutants".
    - bombcar 4y ago
      I liked the Rhode Island reds we had, they weren't amazing flyers (and we weren't raising them as fryers) but they laid aigs as they should and looked properly like a chicken. I love that you can order chicks in the mail. There are SO MANY TYPES collect them all https://www.mcmurrayhatchery.com/chicks.html https://www.mcmurrayhatchery.com/chicks.html

mauvehaus 4y ago

Wild ones can. My wife and I were hiking into the dusk one evening a couple years ago and all of a sudden the tree canopy was clamorous with the sounds of large animals lumbering through the branches. And not like the way that a chipmunk sounds huge in the dark either. We were both starting to get a little concerned (on the path to half-terrified, if I'm being honest) until we saw a turkey loudly alight on a branch as it flew up to roost for the night. I've definitely also had a whole flock take off out of the field next to the road we used to live on and fly off to the other side as I've driven by. They are remarkably graceful in the air for as large and ungainly as they look on the ground. I'm still not convinced that they're national bird material, though.

bombcar 4y ago
Same with chickens, as long as they're not the ones bred for meat that are nearly perfect spheres, they can "fly" a little bit to get into perches; it's more akin to power jumping with style, but wild birds are nowhere near as fat as you might expect.
- mauvehaus 4y ago
  I. Know. We have a number of layers that varies based on how recently we've acquired more and how busy the local foxes have been[0]. They aren't graceful, but they'll get places you'd be surprised to find them. And they'll usually poop all over when they get there. They also don't much care for walking through the snow. They'll noisily and gracelessly fly 50' if there's scratch grain scattered on the driveway. My sister-in-law raises meat birds, and she's done the Cornish Crosses[1] a couple of times. They'll get big enough that they don't really walk well without dragging their breasts on the ground, never mind flying. I'm kind of hoping she's done with them and that I don't have to help process them again. The Freedom Rangers that made up half of the last flock were a lot more pleasant to deal with. Even so, the smell of chicken shit and wet feathers usually puts me off eating chicken for a week afterwards. [0] On the bright side, it means we haven't yet had to have a conversation about what to do with a layer who has aged out of laying. [1] Which she refers to as "mutants".
  - bombcar 4y ago
    I liked the Rhode Island reds we had, they weren't amazing flyers (and we weren't raising them as fryers) but they laid aigs as they should and looked properly like a chicken. I love that you can order chicks in the mail. There are SO MANY TYPES collect them all https://www.mcmurrayhatchery.com/chicks.html https://www.mcmurrayhatchery.com/chicks.html