Should I move my run away from the walnut tree?

[Fluffnut]

Chickens can swim- but not for very long. Eventually they will become waterlogged and/or exhausted. Funny that a walnut tree started this whole debate about chickens swimming or not!

 

[Ptera]

Lazarus the chicken got herself out of a moving current. Of course that was 37 years ago back when chickens were real chickens and were used to scratching through 27 feet of snow to get a single seed and having to fly upwind both ways to reach the nest box which was invariably guarded by a starving wolf.

 

[Gary Kenyon]

I'll remember to tell that to the chickens that drown on the coast here.

Humans can swim too, yet drownings happen all the time. I suspect the coastal drowning chickens are likely getting exhausted and drowning?

 

[Molpet]

Lazarus the chicken got herself out of a moving current. Of course that was 37 years ago back when chickens were real chickens and were used to scratching through 27 feet of snow to get a single seed and having to fly upwind both ways to reach the nest box which was invariably guarded by a starving wolf.

I have walnut trees too
I worry about chicks getting clobbered in the fall

 

[Coopscraft]

Obviously chickens can swim but only within certain limits, which includes landing through surf or escaping a river. This whole debate reminds me of a post I saw on the fishing forum where some mysterious fishes washed up on the pacific beach in Oregon. ODFW identified them as freshwater bass that got flooded out of their lake into the ocean and perished in the salt. Monkeys can climb trees and can also get injured falling out of them. My question is, if Mini Me is tossing roosters in the drink at three, will it be dear ole dad by the time he turns ten?!

 

[Julesstarohio56]

I looked out the window once to see my daughter put her hamster in the kiddie pool. Before I could open the window, there was a hamster with cheeks puffed up with air, swimming across the pool. She was never allowed outside with hamster again. Hamsters can swim, but probably not for long. maybe we should leave swimming to the experts—ducks!

 

[Sequel]

To the OP,
I think the consensus is you're fine with the run where it is! Thanks for starting such an educational thread! Good luck!

 

[aart]

Obviously chickens can swim but only within certain limits, which includes landing through surf or escaping a river. This whole debate reminds me of a post I saw on the fishing forum where some mysterious fishes washed up on the pacific beach in Oregon. ODFW identified them as freshwater bass that got flooded out of their lake into the ocean and perished in the salt. Monkeys can climb trees and can also get injured falling out of them. My question is, if Mini Me is tossing roosters in the drink at three, will it be dear ole dad by the time he turns ten?!

 

[Quackter]

View attachment 1883279 I will be building a new coop and run. Right now my run is under an old walnut tree. The chickens use it for shade. Will the used feed eventually kill the tree?

(Yes, my son caught the leghorn by himself.)

I'm going to digress from the great aquapoultrics debate of ot 19'. How long has the old coop been there? Any signs of stress on the tree? Walnuts seem to be pretty nitrogen loving, you should be OK. No so for many other kinds of trees. Side note, some walnuts release a chemical when they get stressed that kills off quite a few other plants, and they have really wide root spreads. Drought will stress them, I'd guess over fertilized might too? So if your shrubs 50 feet away start dying.....

 

[ValerieJ]

My chickens live in my little orchard of 7 trees and a dozen or more berry bushes. Both the vegetation and the chickens love the arrangement. Any apples that fall on the ground are theirs as well as any low growing berries. They are little fertilizer makers. However, I should add I'm in Washington and it rains a lot here, so that may be in part why it works so well for us.