Do Your Chickens Eat Dog Poop?

Since our hens have been free ranging in the yard shared by our 2 dogs, I've noticed there isn't as much dog poop to scoop and told my husband I thought maybe the chickens were eating it. He said, "why would they eat dog poop?" I didn't have an answer except to say "I don't know, why do dogs eat cat poop?" (we used to have a cat) I've been paying more attention now and have seen them pecking at fresh poop (very gross, I know). Our chickens are about 9 weeks old, are growing very well and seem very healthy and happy. I feed them medicated starter/growth feed, plus I give them different treats...meal worms, pumpkin and other squash, grapes, tomatoes, cheese, cooked pasta, corn, apples, etc. Our dogs eat mostly dry dog food and occasional table scraps. They're also healthy. Do anyone else's chickens eat dog poop? Should I be worried it or is it normal chicken behavior?  Even though it's gross, if it's nothing to be worried about, then I won't. If it is harmful to their health, how do I keep them from doing it, short of not letting them share the same space as the dogs?

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  • My dogs also eat cat poop (we call them doggie tootsie rolls) and goat poop (doggie M&Ms), and like Erin's dogs, they will eat chicken poop, too. We discourage it, but they're always ready to take advantage of opportunities!
    Our chickens eat cattle poop...they actually run for it as it's landing! The chickens aren't allowed in the backyard with the dogs because one dog eats chickens, but if they were, I'm sure they'd eat the dog poop, too. Jeanne makes a very good point about medications, but if your dogs are healthy I don't think you need to worry about it. It's the first step in natural decomposition. Birds spread out the poop looking for bugs, maggots, etc., and they also probably find grains, veggies, and other bits of food that have passed through.

  • My dogs also eat chicken and horse poop. Chickens eat horse poop (no access to the dog poop here for the birds), so I'm guessing that this is all normal. EXCEPT... beware what might be passing through. Years ago, we were feeding Rabon to horses to control flies. It acts by disrupting maggot development. I didn't think much of the dogs eating horse poop, other than it being gross, but both my girls lost a litter of pups, which I lay blame to the Rabon. On closer examination of the label, it warned not to feed to pregnant mares, but said nothing about other animals. As soon as we discontinued the product, we had no further problems with their pregnancies. If you're dosing your dogs for heartworms or flea/tick meds, you might want to research if those medications could be problematic.

  • No, but my dog eats chicken poop.  :)

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