Free range chooks? More like firing range

How did the frozen chicken hit the roof? The question continues to baffle police in Newcastle, New South Wales, trying to unravel why poultry is plummeting through roofs in one of the city's suburbs.

Plucked chooks started falling on houses six weeks ago, and officers have now investigated three separate cases of fowl play.

Initially it was thought the chicken that fell on Stephen Leung's property north of Sydney on January 2 may have fallen from a light aircraft's external luggage locker, but that was discounted after it emerged the incident was not a one-off.

The latest theory - floated after a chicken crashed into Warwick Slee's roof last weekend - centres on someone using a giant slingshot to propel the birds into the air.

Professor John O'Connor, head of mathematics and physical sciences at the University of Newcastle, said it was more likely the chooks were being propelled from the ground.

"It's been known to rain fish, frogs and even chickens, but that is after they are sucked up by a cyclone or a tornado," he said.

"I think some bright sparks have come up with a method of propelling these chooks."

"They seem to be firing frozen chickens into the air to see how high they can go."

NSW opposition leader John Brogden feared if the chicken attacks continued someone could get hurt.

"It's a great joke, but on a serious note, a chicken travelling at speed could actually do a young child some damage. I mean, they're heavy.

"If the objective was to get themselves in the newspaper and get the politicians to talk, they've had a win and now they should go back to ... well I don't know what they're going to do next - whatever their next practical joke is."

- NZPA