Chickens and horses, practical advice needed.

[AlmostThere]

So if you keep your chickens with your horses, are the grown up hens smart enough not to drown themselves in the horse's water? How do you provide your chicken friendly water - keep it in the area the horses can't reach along with the chickens' food?

Any other suggestions on anything to do with chickens and horses sharing the same area would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

[AlabamaHorseMom]

At my barn in FL we had RI Red chickens...Cant say they ever even TRIED to drink out of the water trough. Chickens are kind of lazy, they don't fly unless its necessary, they'd go for the lower water before trying to fly up to the water trough.

[Crimsonhorse01]

Mine have their own miniature trough, but if they do get up there they are smart enough not to go in.

[Pidge]

My friend has two horses an about 30 chickens and there hasnt been a fatality yet...she just throws the chicken feed out for the chickens to peck at and the water is the troth so no problems as far as I can see with chickens an horses.

[RhondaLynn]

I love to have chickens around the barn because they turn my manure into dirt faster. I hate "piles" of manure around. I have a lake near the barn but I have seen the chickens using the horse trough to drink from. They do just fine!

Rhonda

[Plains Drifter]

I would assume you can't have farm cats and chickens at the same time? (Unless the chickens are housed safely away from the cats?)

[Speed Racer]

Sure you can, Plains.

It's just not advisable to have bantams, because they're little.

The heavier breeds like Araucanas, Orpingtons, Rhode Island Reds, etc. get big enough that regular barn cats won't bother them.

You do have to watch them around the chicks and pullets, though.

[Rowzy]

I have horses, chickens and a barn cat and they all coexist (for the most part). My chickens love my horses because they attract tons of bugs and worms, my horses don't notice them, except for when my rooster decideds to attack the horses... which we haven't been able to figure out why he does this. The cat thinks they are all scary animals from outerspace, and yes I have both bantams and heavier breeds, the cat doesnt go after either of them.
As for the water, the hens stand on the rim of the water bucket and drink out of it if its full to the top.

[Delfina]

When we had chickens and a swimming pool, they never went in the pool. The would stand at the edge and make an ungodly racket if they saw a bug in the pool they couldn't reach and wanted me to come fish it out for them though.

Chickens are quite smart.... don't raise them inside when they are fuzzy, cute chicks because they won't ever want to live outside after that. Our would stand with their heads poking in the dog door and cry to be let in the house.

[LadyDreamer]

If you are worried about birds drowning(chickens or otherwise, or squirrels even) in your troughs and tanks, put a heavy stick in from the bottom and coming out, so that a creature that fell in can climb out.