The nature of the chicken poop can tell a lot about your birds’ health and what it eats. Farmers from different parts of the world have relied on the appearance of chicken droppings to monitor their health status. Any change in the appearance of your chickens’ poop should be a major concern if you truly care about your flock. The question is, “Should I be concerned about watery chicken poop?”. The answer is yes. The appearance of chickens poop is an old-age sign that farmers use to assess their chicken’s health. But before you even get to that level, you must understand everything about different types of chicken droppings.
Just like other animals, young chickens exhibit different types of droppings for several reasons. This should tell you that every type of poop indicates something different as far as your chicken’s health is concerned. That is why you must have come across chicken poop that looks bloody, yellow, white, watery and so on. These visible changes in your bird’s poop have different meanings and that is exactly what we are about to discuss, especially the watery poop.
Different Types of Watery Chicken Poop
It is easy to identify normal chicken poop through observation. This type of poop comes in all shades of green, brown, black or even yellow. Anything different from these shades should be treated with a lot of concern in relation to your chicken’s immune systems and wellbeing.
The term “normal” in reference to the chicken poop varies from one bird to another. Such variations can also be dictated by different times of the year. Also the diet, and general health of your bird, not forgetting cecal poop, broody or every day.
Through monitoring of your chickens’ fecal matter, you can easily find out if something is wrong. But you should be sure enough to avoid overreacting to any sudden observable changes or any sick birds.
The normal chicken droppings are characterized by a few shades of brown combined with some sort of fairly solid and fluffy white coloration on top. In the digestive tract, the solid part comprises of fecal matter which is a combination of partially digested and fully digested food. The white region represents the uric acid (urates). Uric acid is what comes out in the form of urine in other animals.
What if you notice a few black droppings in your chickens’ coop? Do you just take it to be normal and go about your business? When you notice some black droppings you should find out if one or a handful of your birds is sick. In most cases, the black droppings is an indication of blood in the chickens’ stool.
The presence of blood in the poop should be treated with a lot of care because it shows that your bird is more likely to be experiencing internal bleeding. If not, your chicken might have consumed wood ash containing elements of charcoal which are beneficial in many ways.
An important thing for most backyard chicken keepers is to know the differences in the chicken poop and what could be causing such changes. As a result, you will be able to find a quick solution to the prevailing problem.
The following is a comprehensive analysis of common colors and their causes in chicken poop:
Greenish Droppings
If you spot greenish droppings in your chicken coop, just know that one or a few of your birds have internal worms, suffering from the deadly Avian flu or have Marek’s disease. All these are just possibilities to make you aware of the situation at hand.
On the other hand, greenish droppings can be as a result of giving your birds a diet high in weeds, grasses, greens, and vegetables. Such products make the chicken poop to look green as an indication of spending most of their time free-ranging or consuming leafy green treats in your garden. So, you should not panic upon seeing a healthy green poop in your chicken coop.
If you noticed a sick chicken in your flock and there are numerous cases of greenish poop becoming water, unlike the normal droppings. This is probably a sign of health-related problems such as Newcastle disease, Avian flu, or the presence of internal worms.
If the causes are linked to the diet that you are giving your chickens, then you should not bother looking for treatment. However, if you discover that the problem is caused by internal worms, then you may use Ivermectin. Also, you may turn to paw paw seeds and garlic as the natural organic remedy for internal worms in chickens.
When it comes to viral diseases such as Newcastle, you need to know that there is no known synthetic cure so far. But the best way of preventing such a disease is through vaccinating the rest of the flock at the right time. This is why I ask myself, Should I be concerned About Watery Chicken Poop?
Watery Yellowish Chicken poop
The possibility of chicken poop looking yellowish can be attributed to an outbreak of fowl typhoid, Coccidiosis, kidney malfunction or internal worms. The likely cause, however, is the consumption of certain foods like the forsythia blossoms, corn or strawberries.
The moment you realize that your birds are showing signs of coccidiosis through their watery yellowish poop, you should find a quick solution to this problem. Coccidiosis is treated with drugs. They are Embazina Forte, Amprolium, Amprococ or Tultrazuril. Alternatively, you may use bitter leaves as the recommended organic remedy to control the disease.
For the eradication of internal worms, you may turn to Ivermectin or use pawpaw and garlic seeds as the most preferred organic remedies,
Black Droppings
Black droppings indicate the possibility of internal bleeding. This type of poop is linked to eating charcoal, dark purple, blue foods, and blackberries.
Administer vitamins when you are sure that the black droppings are caused by internal bleeding. Alternatively, you can manipulate your chickens’ food formula accordingly to balance all available nutrients.
Runny Brown Poop
If you spot runny brown droppings, there chances that your birds have the deadly E. coli or infectious bronchitis. The more likely cause of this type of poop is the consumption of foods that have high liquid content.
The most likely treatment for the condition causing watery brown poop is the use of strong antibiotics such as erythromycin, oxytetracycline, gentatylo and so on. Also, you can use garlic as a form of organic remedy used in the treatment of infectious bronchitis or E. coli.
Clear or Watery Chicken Droppings
This type of poop comes about as a result of kidney damage, infectious bronchitis, vent gleet, internal diseases, and stress. The possible cause is the intake of greater amounts of clean water, especially in the summer or the intake of water-laden foods like celery, cucumbers, and watermelon.se strong antibiotics in order to revive your birds. Otherwise, you must make a habit of including garlic and apple cider vinegar in your chicken feed.
Piles of Brown Droppings
Big piles of brown-looking droppings are from broody hens. These hens spend most of their time sitting on eggs while withholding their poop. When they get a chance to relieve themselves, their poop comes out in the form of piles of smelly brown chicken droppings that are large. This type of broody hen poop is quite normal, to say the least.
Red or Orange Droppings
When your chickens’ poop turns out red or orange, there is a possibility of lead poisoning or coccidiosis. In this regard, the more likely cause could be the sloughing off of your chickens’ intestinal lining. But if you see orange strands in the droppings, you should not be worried because that is normal.
You can solve this problem using drugs such as Ebazine Forte, Amprolium, Amprococ or Tultrazuril to help eliminate cases of coccidiosis in the affected chickens. In addition, you can use the bitter leaf as an alternative remedy for coccidiosis.
Related Questions
What type of chicken poop will indicate that my birds are healthy and normal?
It is upon every chicken keeper to know the nature of their chickens’ poop. Mostly, normal healthy chicken poop comes in two different forms. The first one appears firm and brown in color complete with white caps at the top. The second type is ceca. This name derived from the source of these chickens’ droppings. So, if you suspect chicken diarrhea in your flock and are concerned about watery chicken poop then that is an abnormal type of poop.
What could be the major causes of the watery chicken coop?
When you discover that your chickens’ coop is in the form of diarrhea or looks watery, then you must investigate to find out the cause. It is more likely that your concerned that your chickens are sick and watery poop is one of the signs to indicate that there’s something wrong with your flock. Therefore, being concerned about watery chicken poop could be a result of poor diet, intestinal worms, coccidiosis, bacterial infection, and intestinal tract viruses or kidney damage.
In Conclusion
When you are concerned about watery chicken poop in your coop, it is time you found out the source of that problem. This is a major concern given that chickens are always vulnerable to diseases, changes in diet and environment among other things. Take control in time and save your flock before the problem escalates.
Below is a Pinterest friendly photo…. so you can pin it to your Backyard Chicken Board!!
