Chicken with Yellow Poop – Yellow Foamy Diarrhea and Pale Watery Droppings – Tetracycline, Rotation Diet, Probiotics, Vitamin E
It’s a weird question, right? It seems weird. There’s plenty of reasons why I could have chosen to write on chicken with yellow poop. I was going to talk about the threats of salmonella poisoning, or how Ecoli is dangerous, or even how to diagnose it if you’re a chicken owner who is worried that they might have the problem.
The Complete Guide to Chicken Poop: What’s Normal and What’s Not?
Today, it is going to be all about chicken poo. Not the best topic out there. I know.
However, it is a topic that chicken handlers need to face. So, without further ado, here is the complete guide to chicken poop: what’s normal and what’s not?
Let us get down and dirty.
Why Talk About Poop?
If we have to talk about output, there is no doubt that it is more fun to talk about eggs. However, to make sure our egg layers are happy and healthy, we have to monitor their poop as much as we track their eggs.
Chicken poop is not the most appealing thing to look at, but it tells us a great deal about our chickens. In a way, it helps us monitor their health.
There is a wide range of illnesses and diseases that chickens can face. Unfortunately, unlike humans, chickens cannot tell us when they feel ill.
Sometimes, we find out our chickens are sick through their poop.
Not the most enjoyable task, but we have to do it for the chickens.
What’s Normal and What’s Not?
Poop monitoring is not fun. Unfortunately, it is also not easy.
Chicken poop comes in all shapes, sizes, colors, and textures. More often than not, telling what is natural and normal is not that clear-cut.
There are many types of chicken poop. Most of it should not get you worried. They are different, but not a reason to call the vet.
Regular Chicken Poo
Regular chicken poo is brown in color and somehow solid in texture. It also has white dustings here and there. The brown part is the poo, and the white part is the urates.
Now, let us look at the different characteristics of chicken poo you might want to monitor.
Color
Chicken poo can surprisingly be colorful.
As we have said earlier, it is not clear-cut what is normal or not with chicken poo. Below, we will offer a few explanations for the different poo colors. Some would be relieving to know. Some, well, not so much.
Green Poos
More often than not, green poo means your chickens have had way too many greens. As you might already know, many chicken treats are green. If they have been munching on some greens, then there is no reason to worry.
On the other hand, you still need to keep an eye out for green poo. It could mean serious diseases such as Marek’s disease.
Yellow Poos
Again, yellow poo could be because of the diet of your chickens. Corn could cause your chickens to bring out yellow droppings.
On the other hand, yellow poo could also be a sign of coccidiosis and other serious problems
Black Poos
Too many black or purple treats could cause chicken droppings to turn black.
On a more serious note, it could be a sign of internal bleeding.
Orange Poos
Orange poo has something to do with the intestines. It could be the shedding of the intestinal lining. It might sound like something concerning, but it is totally normal. Just make sure it’s not a bloody stool. As you will see in the next portion, that is not good news.
Red Poos
Now, red poos could also be a simple shedding of the intestinal lining. But you need to be extra careful of red poos, especially if it does not look like poo. Take a closer look. It might be bloody stool!
Unlike the other poos, bloody stool can never be good. More often than not, it means there is a problem.
Aquamarine Poos
Yes, aquamarine poo exists. Unfortunately, no, your aquamarine pooping chicken is not one of a kind.
Hey, there is still a reason to celebrate! There is no reason to worry about aquamarine poo. Like with the other types of poo, it could be caused by their diet.
White Poos
Earlier, we mentioned that the regular chicken poo has white dust on top. You might have to be worried if most of what your chicken pooped is white matter.
It could just be that your chicken has had too much water than usual. On the other hand, it could be more serious, like gumboro disease. Keep an eye out
Clear Poos
As you might have already guessed, clear poos could be a sign that your chickens have taken too much water. On the other hand, it could be that your chickens have vent gleet or other serious problems.
Texture
Poo texture is another thing you can note when checking the poo of your chickens.
Runny or Watery Poos
As you might have guessed, watery poo might mean that your chicken has had way too much water than usual. Again, a runny poo could also be a sign of serious problems such as internal diseases.
Gloopy Poos
A gloopy texture might mean it is a cecal poop. It would smell rank, but it is normal. Do not worry about it.
Foamy Poos
A foamy poo could mean your chicken has diarrhea. It is not a good thing, but it is not the worst thing on the list either. A fast solution is a must.
Size
Big Poos
At some point, you will come across a large and stinky pile of poop from one chicken alone. It will smell bad, but you should not worry about it. It is most probably a broody poop.
When a broody hen insists on sitting on her eggs instead of doing her usual routine, she will hold that poo. She will only stand a few times a day to eat, drink, and poo. As you can imagine, the poo will pile up while she is sitting. In turn, it would usually be a big pile of poo when she lets it out.
The Wormy Poo
There is one poo that is absolutely dangerous.
Most of the poos we have talked about could be indicative of something benign or malignant. It is a different story when it comes to a poo that has worms. You should worry about this poo! It means something dangerous. Additionally, your whole flock might have an active infestation too.
Confirming Suspicions
As you have seen, it is not easy to monitor the health of your chickens base on their poop alone. To confirm suspicions, you should also check other angles:
· Diet – Check the diet of your chickens. What goes in your chickens has a high chance of affecting their stool. If they have been feasting on greens lately, the green-colored poo should not be surprising. On the other hand, if they have not consumed many green treats recently, that might be a good reason to start worrying.
· Appetite – If the poo of your chicken has consistently been different from usual, you might want to check their appetite as well. Take note if your chicken has been eating less or more than usual.
· Activeness – If your chicken is usually active and suddenly turned lethargic, then that is a good sign that there might be something wrong.
· Egg Production – Have they been giving fewer eggs or weird eggs (e.g., shell-less eggs)? That is also a good indicator that something is up.
If you are still not sure, do not hesitate to consult your vet. It is better to be safe than sorry.
Treatment
You will see many treatments for all kinds of chicken diseases and problems on the net. We do not suggest following most of these treatments without consulting your vet, particularly if it includes making your chickens take some medicine. It could be more harmful than helpful in the long run.
With that said, the following suggestions we will show you are not really treatments per se. If your chicken is not sick, the following suggestions should turn the poo of your chicken back to the regular:
· As we have said earlier, what goes into your chickens has a lot to do with their poo. Do you see the poo of your chicken turning into a different color or consistency than usual? You might want to examine what they have been eating. After that, you might want to limit their intake of that food.
· Lessen the protein intake of your chickens. Too much protein could cause black or clear poo.
· Try to get rid of stressors. Stress can also be a factor to note when it comes to chicken poo. Stress can cause white or clear poo.
If the problem persists after making these adjustments, then it might be time to consult a vet.
Summary
And that is the complete guide to chicken poop: what’s normal and what’s not?
Chicken poo is not the loveliest topic out there. Still, poo monitoring is a task that chicken handlers brave for their little critters.
As we have seen, chicken poo comes in all different forms. Some may have a different color or texture, but it should not worry you. On the other hand, others look bad and really do have a terrifying underlying cause.
There are several things we could do to make the problem go away. Proper management of their diet is one. On the other hand, medication is not always advisable, especially without vet consultation.
Understanding Your Chickens’ Poop
It can be alarming if your chickens’ poop out a blob that looks a tad bit unfamiliar, or different than what you are used to seeing.
But, the truth is, chickens’ poop will differ depending on what they eat, where the feces is coming from, and yes often it depends on their health.
Let’s break down the ins and outs (yes, that out) of a chicken’s feces by starting with the digestive system of your chickens.
Chickens’ Poop and Understanding Their Digestive System
Chickens have an interesting, and somewhat confusing, digestive system. First off, they don’t have teeth, so in order to “chew” their food, they have to eat stones.
If that’s not strange enough, poo, pee, and eggs all exit through the same single “hole.”
But before we get too carried away with the anomaly that is the chicken’s digestive system, let’s back up and follow the path of a food item from beginning to, ahem, end.
- Your chooks peck at their food and it travels to the crop, a storage-like stop on the digestive tract, where enzymes help begin the digestive process by breaking down the food.
- The food then moves to the gizzard, and this is where that grit comes in handy. This organ grinds up the food along with the stones the chickens have eaten.
- Once the gizzard has done its job, the food moves through the small intestines where nutrition is absorbed.
- Unlike humans, and many other critters, chickens have an extra organ that branches off the small intestines, and this is called the ceca. The purpose of the ceca is to catch additional nutrition by fermenting the food further. Food hangs out in the ceca for a while and is expelled a few times a day (which is why your chicken’s poo looks different throughout the day.) More on that soon.
- Lastly, the cloaca takes the “leftovers” and combines them with urates producing the white part of the droppings.
So, now that we understand how the chicken’s digestive system operates, let’s take a closer look at the actual poo, and what variations of it might mean for the health of your chicken.
The following variations are the most common dollops of poo you will see around the yard, some normal, some possibly indicating health concerns:
Normal Chickens’ Poop Variations
These three types of chicken poop usually indicate that your chicken’s digestive tract is healthy and firing on all cylinders:
- Regular Chicken Poop
Regular chicken poop has many different faces and depending on the temperature outdoors, and what this chicken has eaten, feces’ appearance can vary greatly.
With that being said, most healthy chicken poop is brownish, greenish, and has the cap of urates we mentioned earlier.
Runny chicken poop is not always a reason to be concerned. If the temperature outside is hot, chicken poo will be much runnier than usual.
- Cecal Chickens’ Poop
Remember how I mentioned that the ceca expel its contents a few times a day? Well, if you notice “pudding-like” poo without the white urate cap, you are most likely looking at cecal poop.
Don’t worry if this type of dropping is super-duper smelly—it’s entirely normal for it to have an extra punch of stank.
- Broody Hen Poop
Once you identify your first bit of broody poop, you will always be able to tell if your hen is broody.
Despite what we see outwardly, hens don’t want to soil their nest when they are laying on eggs. To prevent a mess, your hen will hold it in for much longer than she would if she were bombing around the coop.
In fact, your broody hen only leaves her nest a few times a day to poo, eat, and drink. So, imagine what holding in all that feces does…yeah, it creates quite a build-up.
And when your hen finally does relieve herself, she unloads a lotof droppings at once, and usually, it smells pretty horrible.
Abnormal Chickens’ Poop Variations
Keep in mind that healthy poop can be runny, and have different colorations depending on your chicken’s diet, but the following probably indicate an underlying problem:
- Wormy Chickens’ Poop
If you see worms in your chickens’ dropping, or even in their eggs or shells, it’s pretty clear that you have a parasitic infection.
If you suspect that your chicken has worms, you can try deworming them with a variety of different methods, but to successfully remove all worms from your chicken’s digestive system, you should try your best to identify the type of worm.
If you aren’t sure what kind of worms your chickens have, take the droppings to your vet, and they should be able to quickly identify which brand of parasite you are dealing with and how to treat it.
Remember, if one chicken has worms, they probably all have them and should be treated accordingly.
- Foamy Chickens’ Poop
Another indication of a problem with your chicken’s digestive system might be a foamy stool. Now, every once in a while, we all have some digestive upset.
So, if you see frothy poo from your favorite hen, don’t panic; she may have eaten a lot of protein that day, and her body is processing the extra intake differently.
If, however, she continues to have foamy, yellow, poop, she could have worms or a bacterial infection in her digestive tract.
Keep a close eye on her to make sure this passes and isn’t more than just a protein-rich meal.
- Blood in Your Chicken’s Poop
Chicken droppings with blood in them may indicate that your hen has coccidiosis, which is an inflammation of the intestinal lining due to a bacterial infection.
Coccidiosis can be treated if caught early.
Bloody chicken poop can also indicate the presence of worms within the digestive system. So, even f you cannot see the worms, they may be hanging out inside of your hen.
- Watery Chicken Droppings
Runny chicken poop can occur in scorching temperatures. It can appear thin and watery.
However, if your chicken is explosively defecating, and it isn’t that hot out, she may have eaten something she shouldn’t have, or she could have worms or an infection.
In any of these situations, you should separate your hen from the rest of the flock to prevent the spread of infections she might be carrying and to keep an eye on her health.
Consult a vet if you are unsure of what has caused the issue, and treat your entire flock as instructed.
Now that we all know each other a bit more than we may have wanted to, we can assess the health of our chickens by observing their feces.
And, we know that a little variation in your chicken’s poop isn’t always a cause for concern