Never gave it a thought?

[duckinnut]

My DW was at work yesterday talking with one of our egg customers and the subject came up if chickens can actually swim. She asked me this AM and didn't really have an answer to be honest never gave it a thought. Being a waterfowler and knowing chickens are in the fowl class albeit jungle fowl kind of bluffed my way through an answer. Has anyone actually seen a chicken swim? Not talking in a shallow pan or sitting in a puddle, I'm talking deep end of the pool swim.

 

[bj taylor]

i thought about this ,don't know why i imagine they can thrash their wings like awkward oars & propel themselves a short distance. no way those feet can be useful in a swim.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Swim is a real loose term. Chickens can more float than swim. But their feathers are not coated in oil like waterfowl so they can get waterlogged pretty quickly. They can drown. They cannot take off in flight from water. They cannot get out of a pool because of the sides. If you throw a chicken in a fairly small farm pond, they will probably make it to the side and walk out, but they are not waterfowl and do not choose to swim. I've seen them stand in very shallow water in the heat of summer to cool off, but this is water maybe an inch or so deep, not water they could swim in. Water dishes or shallow water near an outdoor spigot.

I personally would not call it swimming.

 

[duckinnut]

i thought about this ,don't know why i imagine they can thrash their wings like awkward oars & propel themselves a short distance. no way those feet can be useful in a swim.

Being a hunter I always heard that white-tailed deer can swim never really doubted it but questioned their efficiency of it. But during a hunt I saw one jump in a pond that was maybe 75yds wide, boy was I surprised at the speed she achieved with those pencil thin legs. Might have to google it or youtube it to see if anything comes up.

 

[duckinnut]

Swim is a real loose term. Chickens can more float than swim. But their feathers are not coated in oil like waterfowl so they can get waterlogged pretty quickly. They can drown. They cannot take off in flight from water. They cannot get out of a pool because of the sides. If you throw a chicken in a fairly small farm pond, they will probably make it to the side and walk out, but they are not waterfowl and do not choose to swim. I've seen them stand in very shallow water in the heat of summer to cool off, but this is water maybe an inch or so deep, not water they could swim in. Water dishes or shallow water near an outdoor spigot.
I personally would not call it swimming.

It's raining here and know their feathers don't shed water that well but I guess I never gave a thought. I thinking their swimming is equal to Buzz Lightyear's flying, a falling with style sort of thing.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I grew up on a farm with chickens and a small farm pond. Let's just say as a young boy I did some things I'm not proud of today. I'm pretty comfortable with the accuracy of my answer.

 

[bagawk]

Poor chickenbirds.

 

[duckinnut]

I grew up on a farm with chickens and a small farm pond. Let's just say as a young boy I did some things I'm not proud of today. I'm pretty comfortable with the accuracy of my answer.

I can pretty much compare myself to your second sentence and will take the third as as scientific proof.

 

[sourland]

I grew up on a farm with chickens and a small farm pond. Let's just say as a young boy I did some things I'm not proud of today. I'm pretty comfortable with the accuracy of my answer.

I can relate!

 

[blueberrychickens]

here's a video of a chicken swimming