Suddenly Strong (Dog-like) Poop Smell

ZenHens

In the Brooder
7 Years
Apr 30, 2012
35
0
32
Sorry for the indelicate nature of this post, LOL.

I currently have two six week-old White-Faced Black Spanish in a modified brooder on my back porch. I bought them and one had significant feather loss from an aggressive cockerel in the breeder's WFBS run. So, in an attempt to quarantine and keep "Freako" (my five year-old named her) safe, they're not moving out with my BR and Delaware pullets just yet.

I was doing feed for them tonight and as I picked it up, my finger landed right in a glob of dark, somewhat runny poop. I've had these girls two weeks and that seems to be the norm for them. They've never been round and formed like my other ladies. They seem alert, bright, and healthy. But it was the smell that caught me off guard. It doesn't have the normal bird smell. It smells almost like the poop of a meat-eater. Like a dog.

Their feed is plant-based and I supplement with cracked corn and black-oil sunflower seeds. A little bit of diatomaceous earth. Is it that I've just never been that up close and personal with their poop before? Maybe it was super fresh? I am slowly switching them to Purina, so maybe that's it.

I guess I could sum up this whole post with "What does chicken poop really smell like?" Maybe it's just usually defused by the pine shavings I use. They don't poop in their feeder often.
 
Oh, thank you! That's very informative and explains a lot. These little girls cecal all day long, lol.
 

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