2009 Omlet cube and run for sale

[Isabel]

No-one's looking sick, under the weather or at all out of sorts but a couple of poop questions please ...

 

Over the last week or so the amount of droppings in the henhouse each morning has decreased significantly. I can't understand it. Judging by the piles in relation to the perch bars, 2 could be pooping, one may not be but I wouldn't be 100% confident of that. I had to change their food about 10 days ago - could it be related? They are all eating and drinking normally and I'm refilling their feeder as regularly as ever.

 

Also, for a few weeks now, I've been finding what I can only describe as black/tarry poos on the grass. Sticks hard, impossible to lift. Not a huge number but a good few. Normal?

 

Hopefully nothing to worry about but could do with some reassurance/advice please before I become obsessed!

 

Thanks

 

Isabel

[Mercedes55]

Not sure about the first part of your question regarding the poop they are doing overnight. However the black tarry poops could be fox poop. We've noticed a few fox poops close to our hen's run a couple of times and I know the hens aren't doing them as they aren't there when they go to bed, but in the morning we find them

[migsy]

The amount of poop mine do seems to vary daily.

[the bradley bunch]

hi isabel - i'm pretty new to chicken keeping myself so i'm not an expert, but i have heard & read that chickens eating fallen fruit/berries from trees (specifically; cherries, mulberries, blackberries & plums) can cause the black tarry stools you describe. apparently with some fruits, i.e. cherries, it's because the skin is toxic (although most chickens peel it off and only eat the inside, unfortunately some don't), and with plums for example it's eating the stone inside that causes a 'tarry' poo.

 

do you have any fruit trees/shrubs in your garden? if so try to clear up any fallen fruit and put it somewhere where the birds (wild) can access it (as it's a great natural food source for them) but where the chooks can't.

 

with regards to the not pooping at all question, i think the only way you'll know if there is a problem is to watch the chooks for an hour and make sure all of them are pooping. not the most fun observational task but it will give you an answer all the same! if one of them isn't pooping them i'd imagine it would be an issue for the vet , but i'm sure somebody with more experience will be along soon with some advice on where to go from there...

 

hope everything sorts itself out anyway

[Isabel]

Thanks for replies. Def not fox poop as they're inside elec fencing and each isn't big enough for a fox - they're chicken shaped They are in an orchard BUT the trees are only new this year so no fruit apart from a few apples which are outside their fenced area. Hmmmm ...

[Lavenders_Blue]

This time of year, my girls seem to be squeezing their poo in overnight There's very little in the coop over night but they always seem to do a humungous one each as soon as they are let out in the mornings

 

The delightful curry poos seem to go dark and tarry after a few hours on a hot day I bet that's what you're finding on your grass.

[Isabel]

Bingo Lavender - that makes sense re the curry poos! Hopefully it's simply a case of them holding onto it overnight - the fact that someone elses chickens are at the same thing is reassuring!

[hippy chick]

We have apple trees in our garden and the girls love eating the fallen fruit.

I have noticed black tarry poos lately its really thick sticky stuff. I stood in a pile of the stuff with my bare feet Took me ages to get it from between my toes

[frizz]

I stood in a pile of the stuff with my bare feet Took me ages to get it from between my toes

 

Sorry not related to the original question but your comment made me laugh out loud for real!! Re the poos, I have found the overnight thing as well and the first poo of the morning is almost egg sized. The sticky ones are about also but fortunately, I havent stood in one bare foot.

[Isabel]

Hippychick & Frizz ... sorry but ... all I can say is UGH!!! Tarry poo seems normal then. Great! Can sleep easy tonight!

[CatieB]

Yes lots of tarry poo here too... maybe the time of year then

[BarbaraJ]

We have apple trees in our garden and the girls love eating the fallen fruit.

I have noticed black tarry poos lately its really thick sticky stuff. I stood in a pile of the stuff with my bare feet Took me ages to get it from between my toes

 

Again sorry haven't seen any black poo but

[chickyhazel]

If chickens eat too much fruit they can start to do very sloppy, horrible poos, which are probably the tarry poos. A certain amount of these (one in every seven to ten poos per chicken) is normal, but an excess could indicate too much fruit, too many treats, or a tummy upset. At this time of year, we have a lot of windfall apples under our apple trees at the bottom of the garden, and if we don't collect them and feed them to the chickens gradually, they eat them all and do very horrible poos. Perhaps apples are falling in the chicken run, but the chickens eat them so quickly you don't notice!!!!!