Do you ever wonder what all the different types of chicken poo mean? I am talking about the mushy, runny, or the kind of do-do that comes out all nice with a white cap on top. I have to tell you I knew nothing about this until I started to do my research. And to tell you the truth, we as humans don’t know much about this stuff, so why should we as chicken keepers care?
I think it goes back to the fact that we want our chickens to thrive. I am tired of my chickens getting sick. I needed to find more ways to tell if my chickens are healthy. Of course, we can look them over to see if anything is amiss, we can watch their behavior, but do you know that looking at their do-do can tell us a lot about what is going on with our feathered friends as well?
Types of Poop
There are several parts to a chicken’s poop.
Feces: This is the brown, green, or tan part.
Urates: Chickens don’t really urinate; it usually comes out with the feces, in a whiteish or cream-capped form (uric acid).
Urine: This might happen if they are drinking a large amount of water, or if the weather is really hot.
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What Do We Do With This Information?
From here, we can begin to look to see if our chickens need our help. Do they look sick? Are they eating ok? Just noticing the do-do alone doesn’t tell us what we want to know.
While we can be concerned about how our feathered friends are from day to day, one sign is not enough to be worried. It can, however, be an indicator that we should watch for. Our chickens’ health issues have really baffled me for years, so that is why I decided to do a post on chicken feces.
What Does A Normal Poop Look Like?
Usually, they are brown or gray-brown, fairly firm, with a white cap on top or on the side. The feces can vary from bird to bird or even from the same bird. Depending on what table scraps you feed them, or if they are free-ranging.
We try to let our birds out of their outdoor run at least once a day when we are home. So they can be eating bugs, berries, and many greens. So, all of these foods can create different varieties in how their do-do appears.
We were giving them fermented food when I wasn’t working full-time outside the home. If you are interested in how to create this, check out my post here. Once we have paid off our mortgage in full, I plan to be home full-time. Then I will have more bandwidth to start fermenting their feed again. Right now it is just not feasible for us.
Chicken Poop Chart: Use this chart as a starting point, not a diagnosis.
Right now I have a very sick chicken who I have been fighting her vent gleet. I have tried soaking her in a bin with a half cup of Epsom Salts, drying her off and then putting a pea size amount of Vagisil on her. I give the chickens some probiotics in their water, Oregano in their feed and still she is not doing well. I read an article the other day to house her seperately for a week, wipe off her tushy everyday, use the Vagisil each day and this should help her out if she is feeling stressed. It has been about 6 days and what do you know? Today she wanted to come out. I let her out.
The only problem is she is still not doing well. I am hoping that with the fresh air and sunshine she will start to feel better. The next step is to give everyone Apple Cider Vinegar in their water for two weeks. The idea is that this yeast infection will not live in the acidity of the water.
The other weird thing is she doesn’t appear sick. She wanders around with everyone else, but her tushy is not getting any better. She didn’t have any eggs while she was in the dog kennel by herself. Marshmellow hardly ate or drank anything.
So, is she sick? Time will be the teller of this story.
What is your experience?
Have you ever had to deal with sick birds or just weird-looking do-do? Tell us your experience or any tips and tricks you might have. We have had our fair share of sickness in our 3 years of chicken keeping. We certainly don’t have it all together. But who does?
Please comment below and join our homesteading community. We value your experiences and can learn from each other.
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