The poops do have the white caps...they are literally (if not in a clump) between 5 and 6 inches long and can be as large around as 3/4- 1inch in diameter. I watched her do one yestrtday and if you listen closely you can hear her straining to get it out. I've noticed she has started having smaller poops but will still have 2-3 big poops a day. She is very cute and is still getting used to her new home here, this might sound crazy but I thought she was holding them in because she was nervous or didn't want to poop in her new brooder house (I'm not sure what her housing was like at the farm I got her from but I'm sure it wasn't a 40gallon storage tub that she's in now) and mess up the small space but she's getting used to it and sees the other little one (same age golden sexlink) pooping everywhere so it probably made her comfortable to do so. Thanks for all the help everyone! Chickens are such a joy I'm so glad I have my little beeps
Are you absolutely, 100%, sure that these are her poops? Not some other animal? I mean, you say you watched her, but yikes... I can't imagine what 6-week old chook has the internal capacity to do 6 inch poops, many 12-month-old chooks do not have that physical capacity! Maybe she's not actually 6 weeks old then, maybe older?
Sounds like, all other questions aside, she is obviously not in good condition. Something is clearly wrong with her. I've never heard of anything like this though. I know they get slow and ineffective digestive and eliminatory systems from various things, including viruses, bacterial infections or overpopulation, deficiencies... It's also possible that she's internally deformed.
It's not crazy to think she may have been holding them in because of stress, though it would be highly unusual. They do hold their eggs in, sometimes; so theoretically it's at the very least physically possible and has a precedent. I've never heard of it happening with feces before though.
It sounds to me like a severe case of constipation. I'd give her something to help loosen it up, like some wholemeal bread with a generous dose of cold pressed olive oil, or just put out a dish of cold pressed olive oil if she'll drink it directly (lots of chooks will). If she's constipated, she may need probiotics or wet/soaked feeds and more fiber and greenery in her diet to help fix this before she prolapses because if it, because that's where extended constipation is headed.
It's normal for chooks and other animals recovering from constipation to then get diarrhea for a bit, because the muscles were strained, weakened, and becoming inefficient, and the microfauna/flora are sickened by the waste materials remaining in the eliminatory tract for so long.
Apple Cider Vinegar (with the 'mother' in it) in her water, in at least one water source anyway (always good to provide a plain water source as well) will help get the cilia in her intestines moving and functioning properly, to help shift things along at a normal rate of knots. In chicks, it even helps cause the cilia to grow longer than in chicks that never received ACV, which is a lifelong benefit that makes them more resistant to disease because the bowels are not so stagnant or slow-moving, which predisposes them to overgrowth of bacteria and the likes. Plus, it improves feed efficiency, and has a whole host of other benefits too including increased peripheral circulation. May sound like hooey to some, but there's been decent studies done on it by researchers working for commercial growers, as well as by scientists whose works were published on PubMed and other such generally reputable sites.
Best wishes.
