Swimming pool dangers

[Gary Rose]

I know it's obvious that if a chicken gets in a pool, school's out BUT. . . does anyone have an in-ground pool that is not fenced off that has chickens safely in the area? I guess my question should be: are chickens attracted to water or do they pretty much avoid it or ??? I don't want to get any chickens yet if they would tend to be attracted to the pool.

Thanks for any experiences that you've had that might help me.

Gary Rose

 

[krcote]

My chickens avoid my pool.

 

[Brickman House]

I was worried about it as well-- my chickens roam a fenced acre, with an unfenced pool in the middle of it.

But like krcote, the chickens seem to avoid the pool, and thus far, we've had no casualties (knock wood!)

 

[CarriBrown]

We've never had a problem with the pool. I think they are more interested in other things... like the veggie garden.

 

[EngieKisses]

I dont think they like the chlorine smell

 

[cherig22]

This is a way to aid the gene pool, no pun intended, if they drown they are not very smart, lol.

Cheri

 

[Imp]

I have an unfenced small pond in my backyard. For the past 5+ years any and all chickens have avoided it, until last week. Twice I looked out on Monday and one of the young hens was standing in the pond (shallow section). since they freerange unsupervised all day long, I decided to ignore it. They can't jump in the deep end. (It's covered with net to keep out the herons)

Imp-has swimming chickens

 

[Akane]

Tons of people keep chickens around ducks with ponds or other farms with small ponds and don't have many losses. If they are spooked they might accidentally fall in but while chickens aren't great swimmers they can usually manage to stay afloat long enough to get back out if the side isn't too high from the water.

 

[ArizonaDesertChicks]

Based on everyone else's advice, I'm sure you have nothing to worry about, but after reading this thread I just couldn't resist sharing:

Have you all heard about the chicken who fell in a pond and was given cpr -- here's the Jay leno clip of the interview with the rescuer - true story (7 minutes long)

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4629842314544841906