I know, I know. It’s not the most interesting subject, but it’s very important to keep an eye on what your chickens are pooping (besides eggs, of course) to make sure they are healthy and locate any issues early on before they get worse.
By monitoring your chickens output, you can often get an early indication that something is wrong, but its important to know whats normal and whats not so you dont overreact to sudden changes.
If you own chickens, you will have to deal with chicken poop all the time. Even though it’s not fun to talk about, you need to know what normal chicken poop looks like to keep an eye on your flock’s health.
In this guide we’ll cover everything you need to know about normal chicken poop including
- What healthy chicken poop looks like
- The different types of normal poop
- How often chickens poop
- What chicken poop indicates about health
- When to be concerned
What Does Healthy Chicken Poop Look Like?
Normal chicken poop can vary quite a bit in terms of color texture and smell. However, there are some general characteristics that indicate healthy droppings
-
Color: Shades of brown, black, or green are typical. The specific color depends on diet.
-
Texture: Healthy poop should be solid and well-formed. The consistency can range from firm and dry to soft and moist.
-
Smell: Some smell is normal, but it shouldn’t be overpoweringly foul.
-
Normal poop has feces and a white cap of urates on top of it. There should be no blood, worms, parasites or foreign substances.
-
Frequency: On average, a chicken poops every 20-30 minutes. Expect around 8-15 droppings per day from a single hen.
If the poop strays too far from these norms, it could signal an underlying health issue.
Types of Normal Chicken Poop
There are a few varieties of normal poop you may encounter:
-
Regular poop is the most common type of dropping. It is solid brown or greenish poop with white urates on top. The specific color depends on diet.
-
Cecal poop: Occurring a couple times a day, cecal droppings are soft, very stinky, and nutrient-rich. They help chickens obtain extra nutrition from food.
-
Broody poop: Hens that are broody hold their waste for a long time, so when they finally go, their poop is very big and smelly.
-
Poop with intestinal lining: Bright red strands may indicate the shedding of intestinal lining. This is normal in moderation.
-
Watery poop: Can happen if chickens are heat stressed or get too much liquid. Monitor other symptoms.
How Often Do Chickens Poop?
Chickens poop frequently! On average, expect about:
- 8-15 droppings per day from each hen
- 1 poop every 20-30 minutes per chicken
This adds up to a lot of poop from even a small flock. The frequent bowel movements help chickens quickly expel waste from their digestive tracts.
Pooping less frequently, like only a couple times a day, can indicate illness. Always monitor changes in pooping habits.
What Chicken Poop Tells You About Health
When you make poop patrol part of your regular chicken care routine, you can pick up on problems early. Chicken poop can reveal a lot about health, including:
-
Diet: Changes in color or texture reflect dietary changes. Monitor if switching feed.
-
Digestion: Abnormal poop may mean gastrointestinal issues. Key things to watch are diarrhea, constipation, or undigested food.
-
Parasites: Keep an eye out for worms, which indicate internal parasite infection.
-
Illness: Loose, bloody, or strange-smelling poop can flag illness.
-
Stress: Irregular pooping habits or digestive upset can signal stress.
-
Egg laying: Problems like soft-shelled eggs may show up as odd, loose poop.
By knowing what’s normal for your flock, you can quickly identify anomalies and intervene early when necessary.
When Should I Be Concerned About Chicken Poop?
Contact a vet if you notice any of the following abnormal signs:
- Very loose, watery poop
- Diarrhea
- Blood or mucus
- Foul odor
- Undigested food
- Worms or parasites
- Lack of poop
- Straining
- Discoloration other than white or brownish/greenish
Sudden changes in frequency, volume, odor, or appearance often mean something is amiss. It’s better to be safe than sorry when it comes to chicken health. Have a vet take a look to diagnose and treat any underlying issue.
The Bottom Line
In a nutshell, normal chicken poop can range in color from brown to greenish to black, and may be solid or soft. But it should not contain blood, worms, or have a terribly foul odor.
Pay attention to your flock’s droppings daily. This can help you identify problems early and intervene with care when needed. Understanding what healthy chicken poop looks like is an important part of monitoring flock health.
What Do Normal Chicken Droppings Look Like?
Normal chicken droppings can range in color pretty widely from all shades of brown and tan, to green, yellow or even black.
The range of “normal” varies by hen, diet, time of year and overall health – as well as what type of feces it is; broody, cecal or “everyday”.
Now, arent you glad you asked?
Chicken droppings are generally some shade of brown and fairly solid in consistency, with a sort of fluffy white cap on top.
The chunky part is feces, which is partially and fully digested food. The clear part is urates, which is uric acid, or what an animal (or human) would call urine.
Let me tell you a story to show you why you shouldn’t overreact to droppings that might look like a real problem at first.
A few winters ago, all of a sudden I noticed black droppings in the run, so of course my first instinct was to panic. Normally black droppings indicate blood in the stool, which is indicative of internal bleeding – not a good thing.
Then it dawned on me – now that we had a wood stove since moving to Maine, I had been emptying our ash pail from the wood stove into the chickens dust bath.
As they bathe, they had been eating the ashes. As a result, nearly all of them were now depositing solid black piles!.
The above photo shows some perfectly normal droppings from a chicken that has been eating a diet high in wood ash. Wood ash is actually beneficial for the chickens.
It contains Vitamin K which is a blood clotting agent; it also works as a detoxifier, flushing toxins from the body, similar to how charcoal pills work in cases of human poisoning.
Wild animals have been observed eating charred wood after a forest fire for the same reasons. So I figure a bit of charcoal in their diet is a very good thing, ridding their bodies of any built up toxins.
Nothing to worry about at all. This was a prime example of why you cant immediately panic – or over react.
While “normal” chicken droppings are usually brown and a soft, mushy consistency, there are perfectly benign reasons why your chicken droppings might look different from time to time.
You should know the differences and what might be causing them so you can do some research before calling your vet right away.
…and Everything In Between
Could possibly be: Vent gleet, kidney damage from high protein diet, stress or internal disease
More likely cause: Greater than normal water intake (such as in the summer) or eating lots of water-laden treats such as watermelon, iceberg lettuce, celery or cucumbers
Verdict: Normal
Large Piles of Brown Droppings
When a hen is sitting on eggs, i.e. “broody”, instead of getting up from the nest the dozen or so times she normally would each day, she holds it and waits, only leaving her nest several times a day.
As a result, she will leave a huge pile of (generally) smelly droppings. This is completely normal for a broody hen.
What you can expect from a broody hen – a huge, smelly pile of droppings! Hopefully she waits until shes taking a break from sitting and doesnt make a mess in her nest.
The above photo is a pile of broody droppings.
Verdict: Normal
Could possibly be: ???
More likely cause: Diet heavy in purple cabbage, beets or beet tops
Verdict: Normal
Orange or Red Droppings
Could possibly be: Coccidiosis or lead poisoning
More likely cause: Sloughing off of the intestinal lining. The orange stringy strands are often mistaken for blood. This is entirely normal to find in the droppings occasionally.
Verdict: Normal
The above photo is an example of normal intestinal lining shed in a chicks droppings, no cause for alarm.
The above photo is normal-looking droppings with sloughed off intestinal lining from a healthy adult hen.
And believe it or not, these colorful droppings below are also completely normal from a healthy chickens.
So as you can see, “normal” chicken droppings come in all colors, shapes and sizes. Generally its nothing to worry about if they vary from time to time, especially if you can pinpoint the reason.
7 TYPES OF CHICKEN POOPS & THEIR MEANINGS (CHICKEN DISEASES DIAGNOSIS)
FAQ
What does unhealthy chicken poop look like?
Chicken poop that isn’t healthy can look different, but some of the most common signs are diarrhea (which is usually runny and yellow or green), bloody or foamy droppings, and changes in color (like going from black to green).
When should I be concerned about my chicken’s poop?
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).
Should chicken poop be solid or liquid?
Consistency: Normal chicken feces are firm, with a well-defined shape. They shouldn’t be too dry and crumbly or too watery. Odor: Although chicken poop may not smell pleasant, it should not emit an overwhelmingly foul or putrid odor. An ammonia-like smell can indicate poor coop hygiene.
What does coccidiosis poop look like?
Coccidiosis in chickens typically causes bloody or watery diarrhea, sometimes with mucus. The droppings may also appear reddish or brownish red due to blood or normal shedding of cecal cells.