Free ranging next to river? Good or bad.

[Lande-la]

Are chickens smart enough to stay out of water? I have a decent plot of land. About 1 acre. On one side of the property is a river. Not terribly deep, deepest it gets is about mid-calf. But during spring it can swift enough that I’m concerned a chicken could get caught up and drown if they were bird brained enough to get in the water. The coop and run is about 100+ feet from the river. But they have plenty of open land and brush to forage through in the other direction away from the river. My land is not fenced and due to the rugged landscape and steep hills it would be difficult to fence entirely. I’d like to free range them as I work from home, and can check on them periodically but I’m wondering if the water will be a hazard to them.

 

[sourland]

The water will most likely not prove to be a problem. The predators living along the river will be more of a problem - mink, raccoons, etc.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Unlikely they'll accidentally fall in and get swept away, however I admit I've had chickens walk out onto weeds growing over my 1 acre pond, so not going to claim they're always the most sensible of creatures.

 

[centrarchid]

Predators will be problem, and not just raccoons and mink. The waterways are conduits for all sorts of critters. I would be putting extra effort into protecting the chickens at night. You are likely to have something like a fox or coyote walking along the stream as part of checking territory on a very regular basis.