‘Chicks’ dig the Chicken Flying Contest at CTI

One of the most popular events at the Come and Take It Celebration has to be the chicken flying contest. This year will be no different as this unique event starts at 2 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 7 at the intersection of Saint Joseph and Saint George streets.

The origin of the chicken flying contest dates back to the Fryer’s Frolics, which took place in the 1970s around the same time as the celebration of the first shot of Texas Independence, which was Oct. 2.

The contest is run by the Gonzales Rotary Club and helps raise money for the club’s missions. Live chickens are placed inside a double-ended mailbox and “gently prodded” to exit one end, with the resultant flight measured to see which chicken flies the farthest.

Crowds line the sidewalks to watch and kids volunteer to catch the flyaway foul. Sometimes, watching the youngsters race to be the first to retrieve a chicken can be as entertaining as the “flights of fancy” of the bird-brained pullets.

Anyone can sign up to fly a chick. Don’t have your own? There are rental biddies ready to do your bidding … well, maybe, if you prove to be a real hen whisperer.