Wildlife pond and hens safety advice needed

[mrsbusy]

Hello. It's been a while since I have been on the forum but nice to be back.
We are putting in a wildlife pond in June. We also have a small flock of free ranging hens. A gardener friend seems to think my hens need to be kept away from the pond because they will go in it and drown.
Does anyone have any hen health and safety experience please?

[mothhawk]

Hens are no more stupid than any other bird. They may go to the edge to drink, though it's unlikely if they have a proper water drinker, but they certainly won't go in.
When I kept bantams we had two large ponds with a rockery behind, and the banties would walk round the edge of the ponds to reach the warm sunny rocks to sun themselves on.

[Nicos]

Hi there - and welcome back!

We used to keep geese and had two paddling pool sized containers for them to splash around in. The chooks never went in apart from sipping a drink from the edge.
Maybe young chicks might be daft enough if spooked as I’ve heard they are daft enough to drown in a saucer of water

[Snoop Puss]

You'll know yourself that chickens are smart creatures. And if they're used to free-ranging, they'll be used to having their wits about them. I can't imagine your pond will be a hazard.

[mrsbusy]

Thanks everyone - I agree the hens are usually very savvy.
When we get a broody hatch I go round making sure there are no water hazards the chicks could drown in.
Really looking forward to getting the pond in....it's going to be very shallow round the edge so maybe the hens will like paddling.

[mrsbusy]

Just a quick update.
pond in - very pleased with it. Hens drink the water frequently but none gone for a swim so far!
Bees also visit frequently.
We also spend much time watching! Baby Newts coming today - rescues from a friend's pond over run with dragon fly larvae

[Nicos]

Sounds like it’s working out really well!

You must be very pleased that you decided to go ahead with the idea.

Do share photos if you can?

[mrsbusy]

[Nicos]

Wow!…that looks fantastic!…well done.
Very professional

[Snoop Puss]

Looks lovely. A pond full of joy.

[mrsbusy]

Thank you - yes it was a professional job! Two brothers run a pond installation and maintenance business local to us and have put in several ponds for neighbours. It was a bit more than we could manage ourselves and compared to some quotes was very reasonable. They dug out a large skip full of top soil plus 2 builders bags - we kept the builders bags top soil and are making veg beds on the lottie and eking out bought compost - it's very useful. Also very heavy!