Putting a small inground pool in run??

[MamaChic21]

Quote:
I agree, I have 3 ducks and 20 chickens and 165 gallon pond in their play area (second run). All my chickens and roosters are grown, so they'll only drink water and haven't had any drowning. The size of the chicken is very important. When my little chickens were small, 1 drowned in a puddle of water while free ranging. (the puddle was underneath the decks stair case)

 

[GardenerGal]

Another way to deal with the depth problem is to dig a pool (line it with the heaviest grade garden pool liner that is safe for fish -- it will also be fine for waterfowl and thick enough that they can't tear it with their claws) and make it slope very gradually, with no steep drop-off. That way, if the chickens do go to drink from it they will be able to stay on the edge or at least where it's shallow and won't be in danger of slipping in.

The chlorine sounds like a good thing, but if used in a quantity safe for ducks and chickens to drink, it may not be enough to kill some of the parasitic and pathogenic organisms (protozoans especially) that could be harmful to chickens.

My chickens and waterfowl share the barn at night and during nasty weather, and I always keep the ducks/geese in a large stall with their own buckets for water. The chickens have water bowls distributed around the barn. In the a.m. I put the waterfowl out in their own pen with their pool, and the chickens get the full use of the barn and covered run attached to it. It works out great. I just don't like to let them share the same source of water because waterfowl dabble so much muck into it. Bleah!

Of course, chickens will eat anything even if it's covered with dirt, so I probably should care, but still ---- bleah!