Originally Posted by
G0ULI
Free range chickens or those closer in evolutionary terms to their wild ancestors are capable of surprisingly long flights, perhaps as high as thirty feet up a tree to escape predators. They would survive the fall.
That would depend on the nature of the release/jettison envelope, surely? I mean if jettisoned from a balloon or helicopter at the high hover I would probably agree, and similarly if released from a Tiger Moth at 15kts over the top of a lazy loop.
But if released from a fast transport (150kts?) or fast jet (300kts?) I suspect an untrained chook would be unlikely to focus sufficiently on keeping the wings and tail furled until the speed dropped and would almost certainly suffer severe structural damage to the wings and empenage, rendering a survivable landing rather unlikely. Indeed at the upper end of this speed envelope it is likely that the wings would be ripped off by the slipstream resulting in a chook which is not on deceased, but would also raise a much lower scrap purchase value to RTP organisations like Missouri Fried Chicken.
PDR