aaahh poop

I ressurected a post by sue..but think it should just be a new start on one..so will repost
our chicks are pooping out this mess...not all the time, but i see this poop all around the barn yard...
there are two pictures here and i cannot tell the difference between the abnormal poop and the normal poop..are there subtle differences that i am missing (obviously)


the above pic is the "normal" poop



this one above is the "abnormal" poop

The website where you found this says the top poop is ceacal poop and the bottom is wormy poop. Don't see worms in the bottom one though. Perhaps they mean it is the result of worms.

http://chat.allotment.org/?topic=17568.0

There are 3 categories of poop that I worry about:
1) bloody poop. Not the red kind that sometimes happens, but actual blood. This makes me say, uh-oh.

2) wormy poop. Poop in which I see actual worms, before other chickens run over and eat them. This makes me say, uh-oh.

3) the poop that knocks me over when I open the hen house door. There is some sort of poop ( no, not broody hen poop which is yet another category of poop) but some regular poop that when I smell it in my hen house, I know something is up. Hard to describe, but you will become accustomed to the activities, sounds and smells of your flock and when something is off, your nose will alert you! This very different stinky poop also makes me say uh-oh.

uno wrote:

3) the poop that knocks me over when I open the hen house door. There is some sort of poop ( no, not broody hen poop which is yet another category of poop) but some regular poop that when I smell it in my hen house,  I know something is up. Hard to describe, but you will become accustomed to the activities, sounds and smells of your flock and when something is off, your nose will alert you! This very different stinky poop also makes me say uh-oh.

glad you loaded this question Bigrock cause I was just about to make a comment on the other post where you put those pictures and ask if others could comment. I am interested to know too.

Uno, when you've encountered that knock you over smell in the past what is the complication associated with it?

Magdelan, to be honest, I can't actually answer that. All I know is that when I get that alarming whack to the nostrils of rancid poop, I know I have to suddenly keep a peeled eye for anyone who's acting the least bit off.

Sometimes it is associated with vent gleet ( a yeast infection of the butt) or impacted crop and there is fermenting/rotting food in the crop so the liquid going through the bird gets an especially rancid odour.

So it never means one specific thing, but that you have to be on high alert for all possibilities. Sorry, not very helpful.

uno wrote:Magdelan, to be honest, I can't actually answer that. All I know is that when I get that alarming whack to the nostrils of rancid poop, I know I have to suddenly keep a peeled eye for anyone who's acting the least bit off.

Sometimes it is associated with vent gleet ( a yeast infection of the butt) or impacted crop and there is fermenting/rotting food in the crop so the liquid going through the bird gets an especially rancid odour.

So it never means one specific thing, but that you have to be on high alert for all possibilities. Sorry, not very helpful.

that was more helpful than you think. I haven't had the stinky poo smell but keep my eyes (and nose) peeled for stuff like that and just like any hints for what to check for first. So, helpful indeed. What do you do about impacted crop?

i had a chick with impacted crop...remove all food
water only...you can force feed water and then jiggle them and then you can massage the crop upwards and they will spew....i also turned mine upside down as it was less messy to deal with all the stuff coming up...i did this for three days and the little bugger survived!..perhaps despite me
there was long blades of grass all wrapped up in a plug which was probably the culprit...and tonnes of undigested food

I answered in the Sue thread.....

FOr impacted crop we did surgery.

Hub was Doctor, I was supposed to be the nurse assistant.

Hub made the incision in the skin to expose the crop. After third attempt to cut into the crop, and not making it, Hub passed out on the floor and laid there in a useless heap. Nurse Uno had to take over, not happily, and perform life saving chicken surgery. The patient survived. So did Hub. Barely.

coopslave wrote:Have another look at the original photos.  The top one is frothy, kinda foamy, the second is not and has normal consistency.

You know things are bad when you quote yourself......

Oops, should be the bottom one in this thread is frothy!

coopslave wrote:

coopslave wrote:Have another look at the original photos.  The top one is frothy, kinda foamy, the second is not and has normal consistency.

You know things are bad when you quote yourself......

Oops, should be the bottom one in this thread is frothy!

must have been one heck of a freaky trip home. Glad you got there. Are you drinking hot buttered rum and eating a fine meaty meal? hope so :-).

uno wrote:FOr impacted crop we did surgery.

Hub was Doctor, I was supposed to be the nurse assistant.

Hub made the incision in the skin to expose the crop. After third attempt to cut into the crop, and not making it, Hub passed out on the floor and laid there in a useless heap. Nurse Uno had to take over, not happily, and perform life saving chicken surgery. The patient survived. So did Hub. Barely.

too funny Uno, you never fail to make me smile (even when I haven't had a glass of wine).  I will try your technique when tipping chicken upside down fails    I think I'd try all of Bigrocks methods first before making an incision.  Not saying it isn't a good way at all, just a bit weary of cutting a bird unless I have to.  Well, lets face it, would be my hero of a (nurse) husband with the knife.  He can take blood without a person knowing it (maybe a fluke) and stitch up a deep cut like a champ.   Not me, nope, I'll be tipping that chicken upside down and shaking her all about.  Why do I feel bad about that?? Think it is the wine.

Ah poop, different and very specific odours if you ask me, smiling. I can't stand poop, especially that cecal foamy poop that looks like butterscotch pudding. and it is the sticky poop, that cecal poop. Yes, chicken (and I would imagine many other animals) poop has certain, well, we could say aromas. And yes, if one is around those enough to actually get to know the scent of certain animal's poops, you know they smell similar. As Uno was saying, if you put your head in the hen house and smell some poop that is well, "just not right", you can tell. I would imagine. I can't imagine was bad poop smells like, but I bet it is BAD, BAD, Bad.

an example of how even professionals, I am speaking about our vet, back on the coast, used his snoz to piece together a part of a diagnosis. Had a very sick puppy, this is going back about 10 years. Took him to the vet. Bloody diahorrea and vomiting. I knew what it was. Parvo virus, had been there years before with two other pups, many, many years before. But I needed to see if we could save this puppy. He took the dog temperature through the poop hole, as is done, and read the temperature, and then smelled the thermometer. Get that. HE SMELLED THE THERMOMETER. Wise man. He went, yep, this certainly smells like parvo feces. Even vets will smell poopy stuff to make additional prognoses. Guess parvo poop really stinks, just like the stink you were talking of Uno.....I can't stand poop, I really can't. And I think a freshly laid horse poop is one of the very worst. And I smell lots of that, every day. With that, have a wonderful day, CynthiaM.

Oh I meant to say, I have seen these two types of poops all the time, happens I think about every 6 poops of a chicken's pooping day. Cecal poops. Interesting and come in all sorts of colours, still resemble pudding of different colours. I would not worry if I see either of these two types of poops that come from the chicken ceca. That is a personal opinion. My chickens are wormed two times a year, spring and fall, when I give them their dose of choice for mite/louse and worm control. A drop on the neck and good til the next season. That takes care of worms too, of course, so pretty sure I am worm free. I still see these types of poops, all the time, so do not actually think the picture secondly shown is wormy poop, might be, but I would not worry about it. Many times a day these chickens poop out cecal poop and it looks "different", kind of foamy looking. Beautiful days, CynthiaM.