Black poo

[PeaceMary]

My girls have just been dropping really black poop lately. It's been over 100 degrees for a few days. Wondered if that was it. They look happy and active and are laying eggs. I wonder if giving them a bunch of sunflowers from my garden has anything to do with it. They love pecking at the seeds in the flowers. Any suggestions?

 

[azygous]

Do you by some chance augment your chickens' sun/dirt bathing basin with wood ash? I was doing that for a little while, and my chickens were ingesting the bits of charcoal. Guess what color their poop was. Jet black.

 

[PeaceMary]

Nope, no wood ash, just dry dirt and a patch of green weeds that i mow down for them to get some fresh greens. They love kale out of my garden.

 

[azygous]

How about any berries from plants in the yard? Some foods can turn chicken poop black.

Do you have compost your chickens scratch in? I've noticed a few of my chickens with very dark poop that spend a lot of time digging through the horse compost I have.

As long as your chickens are behaving normally, the color of the poop isn't something to be much concerned about.

 

[PeaceMary]

Thanks, the black poo has disappeared and just realized from your suggestion that they "broke" into my compost the other day. Silly birds! I am not so worried anymore. Whatever it was- it's gone through their system with no bad effects that i can see.