On Tuesday, July 31, 2018 at 6:52:55 PM UTC-5, wrote:
I thought about getting one, but after having trouble with mice, I just cannot imagine how much trouble a chicken would cause in the cockpit.

Kevin
92

Well, as a certified academic Ph.D. Chickenologist, I can tell you that the feasibility of having a chicken in the cockpit depends entirely upon the choice of chicken. Now, you take your industry standard "broiler" chicken: They have white feathers so they fit the predominant glider color scheme. They grow fast with high breast meat yield. With their very high wing loading, they should be good for western U.S. conditions. Unfortunately, they are quite susceptible to heat stress. They are also voracious and will eat all your Clif bars and drink all your water before you leave the start cylinder.. Commercial egg laying hens, at least the "White Leghorn" variety also match our white gliders nicely. They are small and light, don't eat much, but are quite nervous and will often panic due to incessant Flarm alerts in crowded thermals. The also require a nest box be installed to avoid having loose eggs rolling around the cockpit. Probably the best choice for a cockpit chicken is the "Orpington" variety. Calm and docile, they tend to be a bit more analytical than other chickens and are very good at picking energy lines. Unfortunately, their feather color only matches the highly yellowed gelcoat found on 301 Libelles.