Not sure if this is the right place, but drowing question.

[babyrnlc]

We have two hens and are going to get some more. We are thinking of letting them out in the day, but I got to thinking, we have a pool in the yard. Are chickens smart enough to stay out of it, or if they got in, can the swim, or would this pose a drowning problem?

It is covered now, so not an issue, but come summer it will be.

 

[jomoncon]

When my RIRs were about 10 weeks old, they went after the goldfish in my small pond. I had to rescue them out of it. Since then, they stay away from the pond. They also jumped into the large fountain. Again were rescued. They stay out of that now also.

I don't know about a swimming pool.

 

[liz_s]

So, the idea of a drowning chicken scares me to death, but I found this link that makes me a little less uneasy:

http://orbitervet.blogspot.com/2007/04/can-chickens-swim.html

I guess it might be best to see how they do when it is warm enough to open the pool. Toss 'em in there and see what happens! Supervised, of course

I want to point out that the posts on the link above do make it clear that chickens CAN drown in water- they aren't ducks by any means. Apparently they can swim, but I think if they get into a container of water that they can't walk out of, they're in big trouble.

 

[babyrnlc]

Thank you.

Maybe this summer, we will just have to watch when they are out.

 

[SJchicks]

I'm sure there are exceptions to every rule. but I worried about the same thing, as we have a pool. Since last summer, my 3 girls have trotted all around i, but stay completely out of it!