Should I worry about this poop?

[ShannonO]

My chicks are 3 weeks old. I have fed them fermented chick starter crumbles from the beginning, with some dry available for the first week.

The FF smells sweet and like sauerkraut.

The last three days I have seen some runny poop like this:

That was from this morning.

Here is three days ago:

I haven't really been able to comfort myself that this is fine and also haven't been able to diagnose with the poop chart or with the one thread about FF and runny poop.

All the birds are eating and drinking and active. I have a sod clump, chick grit, and their water has a small bit of ACV.

Would love opinions or suggestions.

 

[ShannonO]

Oh and occasionally they've huddled like in the picture. Last night I bent the MHP to be taller and turned it down. A few were under there when I checked this morning, a few had already awoke for the day.

 

[ChickenMammX4]

The brown, runny poo looks like cecal poo. Normal. I wish I could offer a more detailed explanation about the whys and what-fors but it is normal and nothing to worry about. You can do a search and I'm sure a lot of information will pop-up.

 

[azygous]

I can confirm that the poop that looks a lot like chocolate pudding, but is as far away from it in smell as you could possible get, is indeed cecal poop. It comes from the cecal gland and is much different than most of the other poops, not as frequent (thank the gods), and smells like the worst thing an evil joker could conjure up. Unfortunately, it is a normal function of chickens. Get used to it, but be careful never to step in it.