chickens and running water...

Hi,

I have a very small stream running through my property.  I am going to be raising chickens/ ducks etc on the property.  Is there concerns as to how close to the water they should be???  for manure issues??  I dont want to be putting too much of anything into water by accident.  I mean I would never just set up the coop next to the water...but can I just let them roam freely around it?

Forgot to ask this too.    I have several huge apple trees that would be a great place to keep chickens under.  Is there a risk of too many apple seeds???  as far as cyanide poisoning?

You will find that chickens will eat a lot of other things and not just focus on your apples.  And when they do eat some apple they won't be eating all the way to the seeds every time.  So no, I wouldn't worry about your chickens over eating those seeds.  Worry more about the other critters those fallen apples will attract.....

Your first question is a bit subjective - how deep of bedding will you use?  How often will you change it?  How much water will the area be getting in the form of rain?

I would venture a suggestion - that you gently slope the area where you will fence your chickens so it leans downhill away from the stream, should have no worries then if you get a down pour.

Unless you have a murderous number of chickens and like you say, the coop isn't right up on the stream, I would think it being a tad bit tedious to think they could cause any serious harm. They can probably get a lot of nice forage from the stream as well, especially the ducks. It's also tedious how people worry about the cyanide in apple seeds, I would like to hear of anyone who ever got sick from eating too many apple seeds...

Thank you both for the info.  I appreciate it.