Chickens and ponds anyone?

[The Little Country Farm]

Chickens can swim! Don't ask me how I know that though

I'll just say I used to know a bad little kid

 

[hitgsd]

We have a stocked catfish pond on our property, it is about 60 feet across and 9 feet deep in the middle. This summer when it was low the chickens would wade in it, about 1 inch deep, and poke around looking for some hapless victim to catch and eat. They are now drinking out of it on a daily basis, but we finally got rain so it is a lot deeper on the sides and they are no longer wading in it. I never saw them catch a frog out of it, but they where getting smaller creatures and bugs.

 

[Mamma Hin]

I am thinking about locating a small pond just above my chicken house & yard... I plan on pumping the water from a stream just below run a stream through it for constant fresh water. I could also use it for my garden, which is in the same area. I also would like yo stick with native water plants (middle Appalachian mnts in Va.) Any thoughts.

 

[CoastalWolfDen]

We got ducklings (planned) and chicks (on a whim). 2 of our 4 chicks drowned themselves in the duck pond - I was/am devastated. I even left escape ramps for the chickens in case they fell in, but they didn’t use them. Maybe the chicks were too young or small, but please learn from my experience and KEEP THE CHICKS/PULLETS AWAY from the water. Our ducks now no longer have access to a pond because I can’t bear to drown another chicken, but I’m thinking if I ever re-introduced a pond I’d make sure it sloped to the deepest point so that any chickens could walk back out instead of having to find the escape ramp.

 

[Florida Bullfrog]

For some reason I don’t have a great pic of my yard pond on my phone, but I have a .6 acre pond in my front yard. I don’t have issues with chickens drowning. Oddest thing I’ve seen was my guineafowl swim it. They are strong swimmers.

I have in the past suspected the pond to be a source of gut parasites (such a Giardia), but I minimize that now by keeping the water levels high and clean with fresh well water I periodically put in via my irrigation system.

I did once observe a large bullfrog try to catch chicks at the water’s edge.

 

[Galaxy_rules]

Our chickens are 8 months old and free range pretty much all day. We have been planning a medium-sized pond ( 40' x 44' x 3' deep) for a while now, and just completed excavation, added the lining, and started filling last weekend.

So far, the chickens seems to be staying away from it, even though they used to hunt and scratch in the dirt hole before last weekend. Do any of you have ponds, and, if so, do you worry about your chickens drowning? I know they aren't the sharpest pencils in the animal kingdom pencil box, but will they drown themselves?

Also, I know frogs will find our pond next summer. I love the sound they make, so I'm happy about that, EXCEPT I was just informed that they WILL be mulched by the lawnmower. How funny is it that my first thought was "Ewwww" followed a millisecond later by "Oooo. I wonder if the chickens will eat fresh frog guts?"

My chickens HATE water, I dk if that’s just them or not but…

 

[Little Tala Bug]

I have a small pond and the chickens love it. They drink from it and hunt for bugs and tadpoles, and wade in the shallow edges when it's hot. I'm going to put rocks down around the entrances for them to stand on because we have growing chicks who will be exploring the garden in a few weeks.