Anyone seen this before?

[AmericanMom]

They look like little pearl-like shapes. I haven't seen even pictures of that before.

My first thought...The hen got into the tapioca lol

 

[rebrascora]

That looks to me like some sort of gravel (quartz perhaps) that has been worn smooth by the grinding action in the gizzard and has now been expelled. If you pick them out and place them on a hard surface and hit them with a hammer(use eye protection), that will tell you if they are worm eggs (although they are much too large in my opinion) or mineral material, which I suspect.
I sometimes give my hens broken crockery instead of grit (I smash it up into small sharp pieces) and it comes out the other end of the hens like tiny smooth pebbles. The reason I know it is the crockery in my case is because it's a particular pale yellow colour.

I don't think there is anything to worry about in this instance.

 

[Lillichloe]

Well there is another one like that today so I'll have to investigate the pebble theory

 

[Lillichloe]

Well I went out to the coop while the little one was napping. Those round things are hard I can't squeeze em ( I used a plastic bag ) and dropped into the wheel burrow they make a ting noise. Do you think maybe it could be bits of oyster shell?

 

[dawg53]

They're definitely not worm eggs. Worm eggs can only be seen under a microscope. They possibly could be some kind of calcified deposits...of what... I dont know.

 

[Teila]

I have no idea what they are but you have definitely tweaked my curiosity

The calcified deposits or pebbles could be a possibility.

Just a thought, do they free range? Have they found some local fruit or berry and could that be the pip or seed worn smooth?

 

[Lillichloe]

They do free range. We have a cherry tree that didn't produce fruit this year and a pear tree I suppose they could be pear seeds maybe.

 

[Teila]

Probably not the right shape for a pear seed.

I am still swaying towards a seed or pip of some sort. Most seeds/pips have a fibrous coating (brown or black) and the fibrous coating would get worn off in the digestion process, leaving the hard, round seed/pip itself.

I note your cherry tree did not fruit but a cherry pip could definitely be an option, but they may also be too small for that. I have been trying to gauge the size of the 'seed' in comparison to a chicken poop ... ah, the things we do with our spare time lol

 

[krista74]

Not that I would want to do it myself, but in the interest of your investigations, could you cut one of those funky little beads open with a blade and see what was inside? I'm not suggesting for one moment that dissecting poop contents is pleasant in any way, but it might help to narrow down what it could be.....

I tend to lean to the same idea as @AmericanMom, it looks like some kind of egg to me too. Maybe a heavy worm infestation? If it were berries or seeds I would have expected them to look either crushed or at least partially digested in some way? Mind you, I'm new to chickens so by no means an expert. This is an interesting one though!

Krista

 

[Teila]

That is a good idea krista74; trying to cut it open may solve the mystery.

It definitely is an interesting one!

The OP did mention in an earlier post that the one she picked up was hard and made a noise when dropped in the wheelbarrow which is one of the reasons I am thinking seed and not egg. Also, as someone else mentioned, they look too big for worm eggs, wouldn't they be pretty big worms?

But, like you, I am by no means an expert either; just very curious now