Weird poops

[SusanMoneymaker]

I am a first time chicken girl, we have 29 four week old chicks: Rhodes, Golden Comets & NHs. It appears that their droppings have changed from normal to a tar like consistency and the color is a very deep brown.
Should I be worried? Any pearls of wisdom? or is this normal?

thanks, Susan

 

[dawg53]

Most likely it is cecal poop, which is normal about every 8-10 poops they do during the course of a day more or less. Here's the poop chart for you: http://www.chat.allotment.org.uk/index.php?topic=17568.0

 

[SusanMoneymaker]

Thanks for the chart. The cecal droppings I can identify, the rest are still a mystery. None of the pics really look like what I'm seeing. It is shiny and tar like.
But thankfully they seem happy and healthy. Never thought I'd be this consumed with poo.

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

My chickens sometimes have poo just as you described (normal). But this should be the caecal poo, which is not supposed to be ALL the poo. So, if the poo doesn't revert to a more formed state at least some of the time, I'd be concerned. But you should see SOME caecal poos.

 

[SusanMoneymaker]

Thanks, with so many running around its hard to tell who's it is. It's fun learning though.

 

[dawg53]

Quote:
Yep, it's cecal poop...stink is terrible.

 

[jmjoffrion]

Quote:
Thank you for this. I had a question about blood in the stools of my pullets and this answered the question without a post!

 

[ranchhand]

I'm a bit off I guess, I like to start at the beginning! So first,

And second, what are you feeding the chicks?