Chicken Poop 101 • A Complete Guide
Chicken poop is one of the grossest – yet most helpful part of keeping tabs on the health of your flock. Granted, every poop will differ depending on what they eat and the season; but can also be a really great indicator of their overall health. It’s a good idea to monitor your chicken’s poop and take note of any differences. By monitoring your chicken’s output, you can often get an early indication that something is wrong before it’s a real issue.
Before we dive into the practical aspect of learning about your flock’s health based on their poop, you must first know the different parts of poop. And yes, poop does have different elements, no matter how gross it sounds. Described here are some major elements of chicken poop that you may recognize.
— images of normal chicken poop —
Normal Chicken Poop
Normal chicken poop comes in a variety of shapes, sizes, and color — and consists of fecal matter, capped by (typically white) urates. A healthy chicken will pass about 12 of these a day. Yeah… Chickens poop A LOT! As for the shape and color of a normal poop, that depends mostly on the chicken’s diet. Also, the size and consistency will vary depending on the size and age of the chicken.
Cecal Poop
Cecal poop is generally softer but thicker and stickier looking than regular chicken poo, and may remind you a bit of pudding. They can range in color from a mustard yellow color to a dark brown or even black color with a particularly gross smell. Cecal poops are usually passed 2 to 3 times a day from a healthy chicken, and as unpleasant as it might be, cecal poop is a good indication that the digestive tract is working properly. Hooray!
Broody Poop
A broody poop, while completely normal, is a very obscene one. As broody hens don’t like to leave their nest too often, instead of doing their business regularly, a broody hen will store her poop so she doesn’t soil her nest. Since they retain their droppings throughout the day, this results in a very large, green or brown and unpleasant looking (and wretched smelling) poop. Trust us, you will know when you come across a broody poop!
Intestinal Lining Poop
Every once in a while, you may stumble across a dropping with what looks like a red lining or strands of red, alarming- yes, cause for concern- no. This is just your chickens shedding intestinal lining which is completely normal if it is a rare occurrence.
Watery Poop
A broody poop, while completely normal, is a very obscene one. As broody hens don’t like to leave their nest too often, instead of doing their business regularly, a broody hen will store her poop so she doesn’t soil her nest. Since they retain their droppings throughout the day, this results in a very large, green or brown and unpleasant looking (and wretched smelling) poop. Trust us, you will know when you come across a broody poop!
Abnormal Chicken Poop
While healthy droppings can vary in size, texture, smell and appearance, there are a number of major things to look out for that are warning signs for your hens health. Here are just a few…
Bloody Poop
If blood is found in a chickens feces, this can be an indication that a chicken has coccidiosis. This is a serious intestinal infection that can spread to your entire flock, and can unfortunately result in death if not attended to properly (and can result in death if not attended to properly). Coccidiosis is an inflammation of the intestinal lining due to a bacterial infection that can be treated if caught early. If you have an advanced case accompanied by a hunched over or fluffed up hen, you may need to call the vet.
Wormy Poop
Worms found in your chickens droppings means they have an infestation of worms and thus, need to be medicated immediately. It’s important to treat the whole flock as worms can easily spread from bird to bird. We have a variety of easy worming solutions. For more information, you can check out our Worm Guide.
Bloody Poop
If blood is found in a chickens feces, this can be an indication that a chicken has coccidiosis. This is a serious intestinal infection that can spread to your entire flock, and can unfortunately result in death if not attended to properly (and can result in death if not attended to properly). Coccidiosis is an inflammation of the intestinal lining due to a bacterial infection that can be treated if caught early. If you have an advanced case accompanied by a hunched over or fluffed up hen, you may need to call the vet.