2. 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.

3. •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.

4. • 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.

5. • 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.

6. Answer
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.