Analise Your Chickens Health...With Their Poop
What is your chicken's poop is saying about their health? ​Being able to read you chickens poop is a useful indicator of the health of your flock, and a possible early warning sign of an illness...if you have mastered the art of knowing good poop from bad poop.
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The simplest way to check what’s going on inside your flock is by looking under their perches three to four times each week. This task can be made easier by placing plain paper or cardboard under the perches at night (this will also extend the life of your bedding). You’ll quickly get to know the look of your flock’s ‘normal’ poop, making it much easier to spot anything abnormal.
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So, what does good poop look like?​
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​1. Faeces
This is the main solid portion of poop. It can be varying shades of green to yellow-brown depending on what the bird is eating. Digested matter is the tubular-shaped section in the middle of the dropping. It may be straight, coiled, or broken up into smaller, tube-shaped pieces.
​2. Urates
This is a chalky white coating on faeces, isn’t watery but isn’t solid either. Urates are the crystalline section of the urine.
3. Urine
Clear, watery, like any other animal’s urine. More urine and urates are produced than faeces each day. Sometimes the urine and urates will mix, forming a cloudy liquid. If a bird stops eating because it’s unwell, the urates and urine may be the only ‘faeces’ you’ll see.
'Normal' droppings consist of faeces and urates. Digestive waste is the solid brown or greyish portion of the poop that's usually firm enough to hold its shape. The faeces are capped with white urate. A healthy chicken passes this 'normal' poop around 12 to 15 times over a 24 hour period, between three to four ounces of waste per day, plus separate 'cecal' droppings.
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Normal chicken droppings are typically well-formed, compact, and tubular, with a dark brown color and a white urate cap that covers about a third to half of the dropping. The droppings may also have a green tint if the chicken has been foraging.
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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.
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A broody poop, while completely normal, is very unpleasant. 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...you will know when you come across a broody poop!​​
While healthy droppings can vary in appearance...size & texture and dare I mention smell, there are warning signs that your hens have problems. Here are a few you can keep an eye out for…
Watery droppings can be produced by hens which are too hot. It can be a way for them to cool down by drinking a lot and losing some of their heat in frequent wet droppings. But, it can also be a sign that the hens are not eating enough.
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 pages Treating Chickens For Worms.
But, unless you see worms in the faeces, don’t rush to worm your chicken as a first response to diarrhoea. Many people assume that diarrhoea is caused by a worm burden, this is not often the case. Worming a sick bird indiscriminately is taxing and can put more stress on its body. If worms are merely suspected, it's prudent to carry out a worm egg count to establish if there is an infestation.
Diarrhoea generally has a runny and greasy consistency and is often yellow or mustard in colour. It can simply be the result of your hen feasting on something that doesn’t agree with her stomach.
Common causes of diarrhoea include:
– a bacterial infection in the gut;
– a viral infection in the kidneys;
– irritation or infection in the oviduct;
– a sudden change in diet;
– overindulgence in a rich food source, eg ripe fruit;
– a toxin in something the bird has eaten.
If blood is found in a chickens faeces, 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.
Blood in chicken poop can occur in two forms:
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bright red: bright liquid blood is fresh blood caused by internal damage closer to the vent. It can result from something simple like a burst vessel from laying eggs, but it can also be a sign of coccidiosis.
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dark: dark maroon-looking blood is digested blood. Dark blood can result from inner bleeding higher in the colon or stomach.
A sudden change in poop colour and/or consistency can be an indication that there may be an issue with a bird. Below are some potential issues. (source: https://ourwayoflife.co.nz/what-your-chickens-poo-is-saying-about-their-health/)
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1. Faeces Colour
Pale yellow, foamy, bubbly: parasites or possible kidney dysfunction
Black or tar-like: Internal bleeding (high in the digestive tract)
Pea-green: Liver damage
White or clay coloured: Pancreas problem, digestive problems
Lumpy or undigested food: incomplete digestion, foods too hard to digest (corn or maize)
2. Urates Colour
Green: Liver problem or not eating properly
Yellow: Liver problem or not eating properly
Red: Internal bleeding (low in the digestive tract) or kidney disease
Increased urates: Dehydration, kidney problem
Watery-white with no solids: kidney problem, not eating enough, increased water intake
3. Urine Colour
Green: Liver problem
Yellow: Liver problem
Red: Internal bleeding (low in the digestive tract), kidney disease
Increased urine: increased water intake, eating foods high in water (eg lettuce), disease/bacteria
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But take note; what your chickens eat will affect the colour of their poop, For example:
Green-brown: green vegetation
Dark blue-black: berries, especially the dark purple ones
Bright blue/teal: red cabbage