CHICKEN LAYING BLACK POOP IS THIS NORMAL?

[The Chicken Fan]

I have a chicken who has 7 chicks who are 1/2 week old. She's pooping black poop that really smells. Is she okay? Is this normal? Please help!

 

[GitaBooks]

I know this sounds weird, but could you post a picture of it?

 

[The Chicken Fan]

I know this sounds weird, but could you post a picture of it?

They just went to bed. I will tomorrow if it's still black.

 

[The Chicken Fan]

It's not black anymore. Thank goodness!

 

[Eggcessive]

It's not black anymore. Thank goodness!

I'll bet it was cecal poop, which can be the consistency of chocolate syrup, and very odorous.

 

[The Chicken Fan]

I'll bet it was cecal poop, which can be the consistency of chocolate syrup, and very odorous.

I know what cecal is, but this was black and had the consistency of a normal poop.

 

[Eggcessive]

Well different things the chickens eat may affect color. Old blood from higher up in the GI tract can cause black droppings, and eating greens or berries can change color also. There are a couple of good links to look at pictures of chicken droppings if you Google "chicken poop pictures." The Chicken Chick has a good one as well as the one from chat allotment. Here are those links below:
http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2012/02/whats-scoop-on-chicken-poop-digestive.html
http://chat.allotment-garden.org/?topic=17568.0

 

[The Chicken Fan]

Well different things the chickens eat may affect color. Old blood from higher up in the GI tract can cause black droppings, and eating greens or berries can change color also. There are a couple of good links to look at pictures of chicken droppings if you Google "chicken poop pictures." The Cchicken Chick has a good one as well as the one from chat allotment.

Okay thank you. I will look into that.