YUCK! How do I stop my chick from eating poop?

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4myHennyPenny

4myHennyPenny

Songster
12 Years
Jun 4, 2007
166
6
129
Colorado
I've been keeping their brooder very clean, so that doesn't seem to be the issue. But I have one chick in particular (one or two others may rarely do it) that will run over after another chick has pooped and eat it. EEWWW. We have one dog that likes to do that, I don't really want to deal with a chicken doing it, too. So what should I do, and is this indicative of a problem (eg. nutritional imbalance) with that chick?

When I have seen it happening, I chase the chick off and cover up or remove that fresh poop. She doesn't seem to go after the dried poops, just the fresh ones. And the runnier, the better, it seems.

Anyone else dealing with this problem? Will she grow out of it?
 
I think I may have read somewhere that eating poop is ok and quite a bit of chicks do it. Something about nutrients in the poo. My chicks didn't do it that I know of. I don't know! Help chicken experts!!!
 
Easy way to stop that is, look away and pretend it isnt happening, find your happy place
lol.png
 
I am a new Chicken MaMa as I call myself. I finally got brave enough to let my Hen and her one baby outside the run and low and behold Carrie found a pile of dog poop
barnie.gif
and went crazy. The only way I could stop her was to grab my bag of freeze dried meal worms and skate it. She loves meal worms. Are they OK for chickens to eat.
 
oh wow! I didnt know they would do that. Mine will run over and check it out then turn up their beak, or if they accidentally "touch" it with their beak...they wipe and wipe and wipe like they got into something particularly nasty.

Glad mine dont have the habit. On the other hand, I didnt wash the chicken poo off the porch Friday night like I usually do every night, so told dh please hose off the porch on Sat morn, since he was up at 3 am to go fishin and didnt want company "steppin" in anything. I couldnt sleep and got up with him, he said, "what do I need to hose off?" and I said..."Well...there WERE four poo's there, I SAW them last nite"...and we dont have any dogs runnin the neighborhood, so...guess that means that dadgum possum came up eatin chicken poos along the way...hoping to find the end of the trail and have a chicken dinner... anyhow, they were gone...poof, disappeared! A mystery.....

Jill
 
Whew, relieved to find out this is fairly normal. Have to admit that I'm not thrilled about it, though. Find myself not anxious to pick up Sage when she's got poo chunks on her beak. At least they're not heavy breathers like our Bassett. After she's "grazed" behind our other dog, our dd will run away from her complaining that her breath smells like poo. No doggie kisses from her!
 

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