How bad is it for dogs to eat chicken poop?

[Rudies Roost]

I'm a dog walker and we have many dogs come to board with us whilst their owners go on holiday...we regularly have a golden retriever stay and he just cannot resist eating the chicken droppings. He's never gone home poorly and despite me alerting the owners, we've never had an issue in 3 years. It's disgusting (rabbit droppings and horse muck are also a particular favourite) but seems harmless. Fear not, as previously mentioned in another post...at least they're not eating your chucks.

 

[Tomhusker]

My yellow lab eats it like they are skittles.

 

[chicky1016]

We have had an issue or two with two of our dogs getting sick... wobbling, not being able to stand, etc. They eat all kinds of stuff in the yard, so we really have no way of pinpointing any specific thing. I just want to know if chicken poo, one of the things im sure they eat, is toxic, and if so, just how toxic.


Thanks,

I know this thread is a few years old... but I believe my dog got some kind of illness by eating chicken poop, although I can't confirm it. She was having problems holding her poop at night and would go in the house. She's also 14 years old, so keep that in mind. As a precaution, the vet put her on Flagyl and a deworming med, a powder you mix in the food. It's only been 3 nights so far, but she has not had one accident in the house since she started the meds... (he put her on an aspirin also for her knee pain), so maybe that has helped also. No way to prove it unless I check my chickens stool, but I have a suspicion it was from the chicken poop, because it didnt start until she started eating the poop.
A quick Google search says they can't get worms from eating chicken poop but can get salmonella. It's not salmonella because it's not diarrhea. So who knows.

 

[AzaleaParkFarm]

I never met a dog that didn't like to eat chicken poop. I swear, it must taste like foie gras to them. It's disgusting and I worry they will get sick, but they never have.

 

[Liddy]

My rescue pup wanted to herd them when he was 28 pounds and they were halflings still in the hardened pen. (He's mostly Border Collie.) Then they were given access to the 30' x 40' chicken yard. He got away from me in there once and discovered he was in Candyland! Took me ages to catch him, as he danced just out of reach, grabbing a mouthful and skittering off again.

He is my first-ever dog, these are my first chickens and I consider him a peerless pup - he doesn't lick my face!

 

[Mooney]

G'day all,

I read the old posts as my puppy had recently been very ill from eating chicken poo.

The vet took a faeces sample from our puppy and confirmed that he had a parasite which was making him ill.
Side effects were vomiting several times a day, diarrahoea several times a day, no interest in eating and very little interest in drinking. He also struggled to stand up and collapsed in a heap in the hot sun.
We got him to the vet pretty quickly however his weight loss was alarming and it has taken two weeks to get him back to the way he was before.
I am told by the vet that this can be passed on to humans also.
The medicine given was 10.00 Baycox 5% Solution and a massive improvement was seen within 24 hours.
We need to get him rechecked soon as he is likely to get it again until he matures into an adult dog and his immune system is stronger. People may say don't let him eat it, however we have a large property and we cannot supervise him all day.

Hope this helps someone.

 

[HennyPenny2]

Hmm, my two dogs run around eating it like its some treat and have never been sick over the past 9 years I had chickens. Although they also have eaten the most unbelievable things (I could write a book, one is a lab) so maybe they have iron guts? lol Sorry your poor dog got sick, are you sure that's what caused it?

 

[Mooney]

Thanks HennyPenny2 for the reply.

Yes the vet ran tests on his poop & it showed Coccidia. When he is an adult dog it is less likely to happen so will just need to keep an eye on him over the next few months whilst him immune system strengthens and make sure it doesn't happen again. The symptoms were pretty obvious so I am sure we will notice if something reoccurs.

 

[Therese 11]

The best thing to do is probably to get a shock collar. It does not hurt the dog but it will make them stop I find hat it worked for a lot of people. Therese

 

[chickoletta82]

Just found out my dog has ammonia poisoning from eating too much fresh chicken poop.  Her levels should be between 12 and 47 and should be on the lower level and they were 61.  She's getting worse but am still hopeful that keeping her away from the poop will eventually help...I've been told that no one has ever heard of this, but it happened.  Perhaps she is not able to process the ammonia as well as other dogs..

Oh my! Poor puppy

I have 3 dogs, my two females love eating chicken poop...my older male doesn't care for it. I believe they are obsessed with it because of the corn in it
I do not allow them to eat it, but sometimes they're too quick and gobble it down. It's disgusting, especially when you have a small pup that loves to lick hands or slip you the tongue. All in all its disgusting. My chickens aren't dewormed, and are healthy, i just wish i could let chickens and pups share a yard without all the poop-eatery