Swimming Pools & Chickens

[Roto Rooster]

I have an inground diving pool in my back yard. Should I be worried about letting my chickens free range? I would hate to discover any of them accidentally drowned.

 

[Judy]

They won't ordinarily go in the pool on their own, but they could be startled or frightened (say, by a bird flying over) and run into it by accident. They will float / swim for a few minutes, til their feathers get waterlogged. Then, I'm afraid they would drown. It might be they would be OK if they had a way to walk out.

 

[GoChick]

I also have an inground pool, and my chickens never fell into it. After two years, though, I decided to fence them on a separate area, because they loved to join us in the stone area around the pool, leaving droppings everywhere..