Are poopie feet normal?

Esrun

Songster
Jan 29, 2024
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We built a new (raised but not walk in) coop and moved our six pullets out with our three bantams. After some (probably normal) pecking order stuff they’re getting along ok. The pullets spend a lot of time on the coop ramp though and I suspect that’s why their feet are always poopie. But I also noticed the roost is poopie, too. Our old coop was teenie and didn’t even have a roost (2 silkies used it) so this is new for us as are normal sized chickens. Are poopie feet a bad sign? I’ve been scraping off the ramp every day but I can’t reach the roost 😬 our coop has shavings and the run has sand. I say poopie as in when they jump on me a bit of poop gets deposited onto my arm, it’s not caked on them or anything.
 
Its normal, my chickens have it all the time and its disgusting! Some times diarrhea 🤭. If you mean like the roost is to high for you, maybe get a steps stool or a broom to wipe it off. 🐓=💩🦶
 
It's important to be able to reach every single corner of a coop for a few reasons.
Sanitation as in being able to clean things up is just one.
It is much easier to do health checks once the birds have gone to roost. There are times one needs to pick a bird up off the roost to do the checks.
Mite/lice treatment includes treating the coop and roost too.

If you post a few pictures of your set up I am sure folks can brainstorm how to make things more reachable.
 
Mine have never had poopy feet for longer than few minutes - they don't watch where they step but it doesn't stay on their feet. I credit it to abundant ventilation, lots of space, deep litter, and single level roost pole over a poop board.

It might be common but it is not inevitable.
I know this is an older post, but I'm wondering if you had any issues of chronic poopy feet in your brooder. My two week old chicks keep stepping in their poop and it stays stuck. I'm using Aspen wood chips for nine chicks in a 6 x 4 brooder with two heating plates and a 174 watt incandescent healthy light set about 2'4" placed in one corner. Do they eventually learn to clean their own feet?
 
I know this is an older post, but I'm wondering if you had any issues of chronic poopy feet in your brooder. My two week old chicks keep stepping in their poop and it stays stuck. I'm using Aspen wood chips for nine chicks in a 6 x 4 brooder with two heating plates and a 174 watt incandescent healthy light set about 2'4" placed in one corner. Do they eventually learn to clean their own feet?
I didn't have problems in the brooder. I'm not sure if that is because it didn't stick to their feet much or if I expected more of that than most people.

At two weeks, I was still changing their bedding pretty often - several times a day, I think. I only had chicks once and its now been long enough that I'm not sure exactly when I transitioned from that.

They never learned to wipe their feet.
 
I know this is an older post, but I'm wondering if you had any issues of chronic poopy feet in your brooder. My two week old chicks keep stepping in their poop and it stays stuck. I'm using Aspen wood chips for nine chicks in a 6 x 4 brooder with two heating plates and a 174 watt incandescent healthy light set about 2'4" placed in one corner. Do they eventually learn to clean their own feet?
It sounds like you might need to clean more often. No, chickens do not clean their feet. They might pull off large chunks but that’s it.
 
I didn't have problems in the brooder. I'm not sure if that is because it didn't stick to their feet much or if I expected more of that than most people.

At two weeks, I was still changing their bedding pretty often - several times a day, I think. I only had chicks once and its now been long enough that I'm not sure exactly when I transitioned from that.

They never learned to wipe their feet.
Thank you for your response. Darn--was hoping that maybe they learn to pick them clean. Gross, but it seems a constant issue and they get so freaked out being messed with so often, I worry it will create a trust issue long term. I thought that the bedding would help with this, but it only seems to make it harder for me to see the poop to pick it up. I used puppy pads and paper towels for the first week and had much less of an issue. I'm tempted to go back to it. Is this less of an issue when they're outside in their run?
 
I thought that the bedding would help with this, but it only seems to make it harder for me to see the poop to pick it up. I used puppy pads and paper towels for the first week and had much less of an issue. I'm tempted to go back to it. Is this less of an issue when they're outside in their run?
Yes it shouldn't be an issue in the run in most cases.

You said you're using aspen chips? Or shavings? Some types of litter are far better for absorbing poop than others. While I use some aspen shavings for softness while chicks are young it's not very good at absorbing poops. The majority of my brooder litter is wood chip based deep litter, so poop disappears so well that I don't clean the brooder at all - you might be able to replicate the effect if you bring whatever you're going to use outside in, though you'd need a good amount of it.

2024chicks02.jpg
 

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