Black Chicken Poop! Normal or Internal Bleeding???

[HannahL]

Hi all. So I saw this poop in my chickens’ coop tonight. I saw a similar one outside in their pen earlier today. It looks really black and I know in people, black poop indicates internal bleeding. Is this the same in chickens? Or is this poop within the realm of normal? Everyone is acting normally, eating and drinking, not lethargic, etc. I do have two hens (possibly a third) that are suffering from egg yolk peritonitis. But they’re both on antibiotics twice a day and an anti-inflammatory as needed (I also caught it very early) and so they are doing well and acting normally. Is this something associated with the peritonitis? Bleeding? Or normal? Maybe some weird cecal poop? Any help or insight would be greatly appreciated!

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Hi, Hannah. I don't have answers, but I have some questions which, if you answer, will help our experts to help you when they come on, probably in the morning.

So. How old is the hen you suspect dropped this poop? What do you feed, including treats? What antibiotics and anti-inflammatories are you giving, and how long have the hens been on them? How do everyone's combs look? Check for color. Is anyone pale, dark, dusky or bluish? Is anyone's comb floppy? Nobody has nasal or eye discharge?

I can't think of anything else that may be pertinent right now. Thanks and good luck.

Sorry, typos

 

[HannahL]

Hi, Hannah. I don't have answers, but I have some questions which, if you answer, will help our experts to help you when they come on, probably in the morning.

So. How old is the hen you suspect dropped this poop? What do you feed, including treats? What antibiotics and anti-inflammatories are you giving, and how long have the hens been on them? How do everyone's combs look? Check for color. Is anyone pale, dark, dusky or bluish? Is anyone's comb floppy? Nobody has nasal or eye discharge?

I can't think of anything else that may be pertinent right now. Thanks and good luck.

Sorry, typos

Hi! Thank you for replying! I’m not 100% sure who did the poop but all of my hens are 3 years old, except for one who is four. I feed them basic Purina layer feed and for treats I feed raw old fashioned Quaker Oats, Flock Party mealworms, strawberries, grapes, and cracked corn. The antibiotic is called SMZ TMP Suspension (3 ml twice a day by mouth) and the anti-inflammatory is called Meloxicam (2 ml by mouth once a day as needed). They’ve been on the medicine for a week now, but the dose is for two weeks. Everyone’s coloring has been pretty good. I haven’t noticed any nasal or eye discharge, floppy combs, or paleness. My older hen (who has peritonitis) has been a bit pale recently but nothing that’s made me overly concerned. Hopefully this helps! And don’t worry at all about typos, I didn’t even notice any!

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Hmm. Well, I see no one has responded since last night. Let me flag a few of our experts and see if we can get some answers for you.
@Eggcessive
@Wyorp Rock
@aart
@casportpony

 

[micstrachan]

How is everyone's body language? I had a hen with black poop, very pale comb and poor body language last summer. Avian vet suspected hardware disease, but an x-ray showed no metal in her system. Her intestines were bloated with gas, and they were a bit perplexed. They prescribed an antibiotic and barium sulfate to coat her intestines. I also started providing cooked beef liver treat. Amazingly, she recovered. Prognosis was not great, and treatment was a bit of an experiment. We lucked out!

I think I narrowed it down to a feed her system did not agree with, but I don't know for sure. I also put some wood ash in part of the run, and they may occasionally eat the larger pieces of wood coal, which could turn poop black, but would not explain her other symptoms.

Is there anything your birds could be eating causing the black poop?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

s this poop within the realm of normal? Everyone is acting normally, eating and drinking, not lethargic, etc. I do have two hens (possibly a third) that are suffering from egg yolk peritonitis. But they’re both on antibiotics twice a day and an anti-inflammatory as needed (I also caught it very early) and so they are doing well and acting normally.

Color of poop can range from light to very dark depending on diet, environment, etc.

All are doing well, eating/drinking, acting normal. Behavior tells a lot. It's not something I would really worry about unless one is not feeling well.

 

[micstrachan]

Color of poop can range from light to very dark depending on diet, environment, etc.

All are doing well, eating/drinking, acting normal. Behavior tells a lot. It's not something I would really worry about unless one is not feeling well.

x2
I would not worry unless their is a change in behavior, but good job being attentive!

 

[HannahL]

How is everyone's body language? I had a hen with black poop, very pale comb and poor body language last summer. Avian vet suspected hardware disease, but an x-ray showed no metal in her system. Her intestines were bloated with gas, and they were a bit perplexed. They prescribed an antibiotic and barium sulfate to coat her intestines. I also started providing cooked beef liver treat. Amazingly, she recovered. Prognosis was not great, and treatment was a bit of an experiment. We lucked out!

I think I narrowed it down to a feed her system did not agree with, but I don't know for sure. I also put some wood ash in part of the run, and they may occasionally eat the larger pieces of wood coal, which could turn poop black, but would not explain her other symptoms.

Is there anything your birds could be eating causing the black poop?

I did recently switch brands of feed. So that might have caused some gastrointestinal upset. I also narrowed it down to one of the peritonitis hens who is the culprit. So it may also be an antibiotic side effect. I’ll try giving them some beef liver though, I’m sure they’d love it!

 

[aart]

Looks like cecal poop to me, they are often black especially if they've been pecking at the dirt while dust bathing....even more so if dust bath has wood ash in it.

 

[Eggcessive]

I have seen black cecal poop before. I go more on their behavior than droppings. Droppings can be regular or cecal (from the 2 cecal pouches between the small and large intestines where food is fermented,) and those vary in color, smell very strong, and are shiny like syrup.