Chicken Droppings: What You Need to Know

You have a healthy chicken if your chicken’s poop is brown or green with white caps.

Regular chicken poop is usually a shade of brown with a fluffy white cap. The whitecap is uric acid which would be urine in humans, while the brown part is the faeces proper. The poop is usually moist, soft, and mushy. There might be variation in the poop of different chickens as factors like diet and season can affect the nature of chicken poop. However, healthy chicken poop would generally fit the description above.

One usual exception in chicken poop is the cecal poop which is more moist, runny, and smelly. It is usually excreted twice a day and comes from the cecum, a part of the bird’s internal organs where digestion happens. Although this poop looks different from your regular chicken poop, it is no reason to be worried. It is, instead, a sign that your chicken’s digestive tract is working perfectly fine.

What Can Chicken Poop Tell You About Chickens?

A ton of information can be obtained just by studying chicken poop. This will include taking note of the colour and the form of the faeces. It can provide a host of information about your chicken’s health, diet, and other things. Below are the different information that can be gleaned from observing chicken poop.

There are seven types of chicken droppings. These are:

a)    Normal droppings

b)    Green droppings

c)    Brown droppings

d)    Yellow and foamy droppings

e)    Red or bloody droppings

f)     White or milky droppings

g)    Black droppings

1. Normal droppings

It is a common belief that the droppings or faeces of a healthy chicken should have an ash colour, be firm and with a white cap. While this is true, the poop of a healthy chicken is not always like that as diet, season, climate and state of health can alter the look, texture or colour of the chicken’s poop. However, the change shouldn’t last for a long time. If it does, then something is wrong with such chicken(s).

2. Green droppings

Possible causes: Loss of appetite, starvation, intestinal worms, Marek’s disease, Newcastle disease, Avian flu, Salmonella. The most reasonable cause is when the chickens consume green vegetables, grasses or herbs.

3. Brown droppings

Possible cause: Lead poisoning, Colibacillosis (E. coli) or Infectious Bronchitis.

Most likely cause: Ingestion of foods with higher liquid content, so the consistency of the stool will look more like pudding and this can occur once with a frequency of 7 - 8 normal poops, which is quite normal.

4. Yellow and foamy droppings

This could be an indication of intestinal worm, coccidiosis or salmonellosis (Fowl typhoid). Other causes could be the intake of some foods, strawberries or tomatoes, oats and corn.

5. Red or bloody droppings

Possible cause: Advanced coccidiosis, intestinal wall shedding or intestinal parasites.

Probable cause: Swelling or inflammation of the intestinal wall. The orange particles are sometimes mistaken for blood, apple intake, or excess oatmeal.

Fresh blood in the poop or dark brown-black or reddish-black poop, indicating that the blood has been digested, could be a symptom of enteritis, septicaemia, poisoning, or parasites.

6. White or milky droppings

Possible cause: Food digestion problems, bacterial diseases (Bacillary white diarrhoea), stress, coccidiosis, fungal or viral infections.

Probable cause: Bacillary White diarrhoea (Pullorum), Infectious Bursal Disease (Gumboro) or Coccidiosis.

7. Black droppings

It indicates bleeding in the upper parts of the digestive system, caused by blood that has fallen into the digestive tract, the cause may be the presence of worms or tapeworms or even very thin bacterial infections, also due to the ingestion of ash or charcoal.

Lumpy or undigested: The frequency will be the first indication that something is wrong. Incomplete digestion, foods that are too hard to digest (e.g. corn), or stunting syndrome.

Undigested seeds in faeces: May be caused by roundworms or a Candida Albicans (fungus) Moniliosis infection.

Bulky poop: Mycosis or bacterial infection. Poop is normal in broody hens.

Is Chicken Poop Useful?

Chicken poop is not all garbage and can be put to great use on farms and even in gardens. This is because it comprises many macro and micronutrients that can enrich the soil and improve its productivity. It can also be useful to fish farmers as it can serve as food for fish and also improve the nutrients within ponds or water habitats. It’s noteworthy that chicken poop is not to be used in its raw form but only after it has been composted. Handling in its raw form can harm both plants and humans. 

Is Chicken Poop Dangerous?

Although it is helpful as manure, chicken poop can be very deadly to humans as it can transmit diseases to other animals, including humans. This is due to the presence of disease-causing bacteria called Salmonella and Campylobacter (which can result in campylobacteriosis in affected humans). Although these bacteria can exist in the tract of a healthy chicken without causing any harm, they can be easily transferred to humans who come in contact with poultry poop.

Children are more susceptible as they are more likely to come in contact with chicken poop when playing. Another disease that can be attributed to chickens is Histoplasmosis. This infection is airborne and is caused when people breathe in the spores of a fungus found in chicken faeces. These spores can get into the air during human activities like demolition and cleanup. It is best to avoid having contact with poultry poop if you do not have any reasons to engage with it.