DROWNING - Are adult silkie pullets at risk?

[cmom]

I have a pond but do not let the chickens near it. I have seen post on other threads (not sure if it was on BYC or not) that some that have let there chickens around ponds, pools etc. have had some drown.

 

[O.C.Chick]

I only found posts on BYC regarding baby chicks drowning, but I probably won't take the chance with adults - Especially the silkies since they don't have much wing-power to fly out with their downy feathers. I might just put up netting or some kind of temporary fencing as a precaution.

Thanks all!

 

[cmom]

Here are some pics of my pond.

 

[silkiechicken]

It's a risk, as if they can't get out, they will become waterlogged and drown, but they do float till they get too wet. Chicks drown in bodies of water faster and easier since they soak up water faster and often are too small to get out. I don't have a pond, but when the turn around floods and becomes 3-6 inches deep, the birds don't step into it and avoid at all costs. Now when it freezes and they overzealously try to run across, you get slip and slide birds.

 

[crtrlovr]

beautiful ponds indeed, folks. As for the silkies & drowning, I'd think it would be a distinct possibility. Perhaps think about overlaying the pond w/ poultry netting or hardware cloth to keep them out of the water entirely. They could still do slug duty w/o having access to the water itself.

 

[O.C.Chick]

Thanks,

Yes, I think I'll either create a temporary pen that I can move around in the yard, or put up a barrier of some sort. Those nets are really hard to manage due to the weird dimensions of the pond and the stretchy nature of the netting..

CMom, I used to have that exact same pre-formed pond before I replaced it with this one, made with a 45 ml rubber liner! Looks really nice, and a lot neater than mine!