Can chickens swim?

[homesteadinmama]

I am building a coop and an enclosed run but wanted the chickens to be able to roam free. However, I am unsure if they are okay near water. We have a stream near our house that they could potentially drink from or fall in. Anyone have any advice? Thanks.

 

[spiffwilkie]

Well, I'm no expert in this, but I have some friends who keep chickens in a yard with an in-ground pool. They have had a chicken fall in and it just stayed afloat until it was pulled out. A stream with a current might provide a somewhat different dynamic. I wouldn't be so much afraid of it drowning as I would that it might be swept downstream some.

 

[BarefootMom]

how deep is it?

I have used a kiddie swimming pool for the past year for water and the chickens are fine drinking from it. Sometimes during the summer they will sit in it. I have had 1 chicken drown, but that was in the tire waterer and I think it just couldn't figure out how to get out 9because of the lip on the tire)

This is what I am talking about when I say tire waterer:

 

[homesteadinmama]

The stream is about a 1-2ft deep at the edge and goes out 30ft across with the deepest being 6ft deep.

 

[Lbrad7]

I have an inground pool and my birds have gotten into it from time to time. They can swim quite well but since they dont have as much oil on their feathers like ducks, they will gradually get lower and lower in the water until they sink. My concern about having them near a stream the size of yours would be flooding. If it were to flood and have rushing water, your birds wouldn't stand a chance if they were to end up in the drink.

I would also be concerned about racoons..not sure you would be able to fence them out if you included a stream in your run. They could easily swim under the wire if you fenced across the stream.

Good luck!

 

[Teach97]

of course they can swim that is why people say...Why did the chicken swim the river?

 

[Pinky]

I don't think I would chance it because of the flooding possibility. I have my fish pond inside my chicken enclosure. I haven't had any drown in it but they do like to drink from it, even though I always have their waterer filled.

 

[homesteadinmama]

Thanks everyone. I am not enclosing the stream in the run but wanted to occationally let them out to venture into the woods (where the stream runs) and wasn't sure if they were smart enough to not jump in the water. No coons in the area but have a beaver

 

[Illia]

They cannot swim, however I would not worry at all of streams, rivers, lakes, etc. They're smarter than that.

 

[WoodlandWoman]

They'll probably go over to the steam to check it out and drink. If it has a sharp drop off, a klutzy or stupid chicken could possibly fall in. Probably, though, they would just be careful and not fall in. None of mine have ever fallen in my ponds and one has one edge with a sharp drop off. They just drink out of it. Sometimes one of the dogs ends up in it when they're new, before they learn, but I've never had one of the chickens do that. I guess my chickens are smarter than my dogs! If the sides are more gradual, then you shouldn't have any trouble at all. If you do have times of the year where you get flooding and rushing water, you can always keep the chickens in the run during that time.