Science Points:• The average wingspan of a chicken is 2.5ft.

• Factors for flight are weight, wing size and shape.

• Chickens can be described as "spurt flyers“.

• The muscles controlling the wings are the pectorals major, and the

pectorals minor.

• Chicken breasts would grow much bigger in proportion to wing growth.

• Enlarged breasts lead to problems in breeding naturally.

• In the 7-8 weeks it takes from birth to get a chicken ready for market, little

muscle development can occur.

• The ancestors of chickens could fly, but were better adapted to living on

the ground because they were ground scavengers.

• If we selectively bred for bigger wings, chickens would weigh much less

and would lose overall body mass.

•The average wingspan of a chicken is 2.5ft.

Birds of similar size have longer wingspans

that support flight.

• Chickens are "spurt flyers". They

can flap up to low roosting perches

but they cannot maintain flight.

•To maintain flight,

the muscles controlling the

wings, pectorals major and pectorals minor,

would increase in size.

• The mechanisms of flight are essentially

dependent on three factors: the birds weight, the

size of its wings and its wing shape.

• The site of attachment of these muscles is the

sternum. The chicken's breast would grow much

bigger in proportion to wing growth.

•The consequence of these enlarged breasts is the

inability for these chickens to breed naturally.

• In the 7-8 weeks it takes from birth to market size,

little muscle development occurs.

• The ancestral fowl of chickens originally could

fly, but were better adapted to living on the

ground because their beaks were adapted to

pecking off the ground. They were ground

scavengers and therefore lost their ability to fly.

• If we selectively bred for bigger wings, chickens

would have to weigh less and would lose overall

mass.

If the chickens we

breed could fly, the

wings in restaurants

would be bigger, but the

overall body mass

would have to be lighter

to support flight.

Answer