Poultry droppings are an important tool to evaluate flock health status as well as a good tool to obtain a very early signal of any outbreak or infestation. Monitoring of droppings on an everyday basis has now become a smart management tool for sustainable farming. Professionals and practitioners agree on the economic importance of early detection through continuous monitoring of the droppings on the floor or manure belt. Moreover, there is no doubt that to produce clean egg, intestinal health has become a concern nowadays.
IMPORTANCE OF POULTRY DROPPINGS
Observation of avian droppings is a diagnostic tool for early intervention during the occurrence of bowel and/or cecal disease. It thus limits the economic losses associated with decreases in production (meat, eggs) and before the onset of significant mortality.
When examining fecal or cecal droppings, it is important to assess:
- water content (normal, moderate, aqueous, or very liquid during diarrhea),
- increased volume,
- loss of consistency,
- color change (especially the presence of melena or fresh blood),
- oily appearance,
- presence of undigested feed and/or abnormal smell.
It is important to observe droppings around the drinkers to be consistent. But, in addition to droppings in the litter, one must also look at the birds, especially the cloacal area and feathers soiled and stained with diarrheal droppings, sometimes forming a pasty mass after drying.
The evaluation of the water content in manure ensures good litter quality (especially the prevention of skin diseases and pododermatitis) and early detection of enteritis in flocks. This can be done using specific tools. Often these tools includes a special absorbent paper placed on the litter and under a slatted box on which the birds defecate. This system provides a good assessment of the moisture content of droppings.
It is important to assess the water consumption of the flock to determine whether the “aqueous” swelling of fecal droppings comes from an overconsumption of water (in this case non-pathological causes are to be sought) or intestinal damage with impaired reabsorption. Both problems could occur at the same time.
Many diseases are associated with diarrhea and its color may or may not be specific. For example, the green color is caused by a bile pigment due to anorexia and the white color results from an excessive number of white urates in droppings (as the disease progresses, the droppings become totally white).
| Common causes | Less common causes | Rare causes |
|---|---|---|
| Heat stress Vent prolapse Marek’s disease Lymphoid leukosis Pullorum disease Paratyphoid salmonella Arizonosis Colibacillosis Clostridiosis Coccidiosis | Raw soybean meal Hardware disease Mold toxins in feed Excess salt in the diet Rotavirus or entero-like virus infections Infectious coryza Fowl cholera Avian tuberculosis, Avian intestinal spirochetosis Aspergillosis Heavy infections with threadworms | Avian influenza NAvian influenza Newcastle disease Toxic plants Chlamydiosis Campylobacteriosis Listeriosis Histomoniasis |
QUALIFICATION OF DROPPINGS
This is the first sign of an intestinal disorder diarrheic
Droppings sign for pathogenicity
Indicates specific pathogenicity of the specific disease
ABNORMAL COLOR OR COMPOSITION OF AVIAN DROPPINGS
| Aspects | Origin | Common causes |
|---|---|---|
| Orange | Fecal or Cecal | Orange tinge caused by sloughing of the intestinal mucosa, coccidiosis (Eimeria maxima or E. acervulina) with or without diarrhea. first droppings after fasting, loss of carotenes and vitamins, other. |
| Yellow | Fecal or Cecal | Inclusion body hepatitis, avian enterovirus-like virus infection, histomoniasis (blackhead, bright yellow droppings, wasting, typhlitis) ; yellow to watery brown droppings; foamy: problem of maldigestion and fermentation in ceca (undigested food, infection, parasites, etc.) |
| Caramel | Fecal or Cecal | With or without foam, foamy yellow brownish (or caramel) in Brachyspira spp. infection, first stage of coccidiosis or some other parasites, other. |
| Green | Fecal or Cecal | Biliary origin: fasting, anorexia (related to disease); fat problem in feed (rancidity, quantity, absorption, etc.); Acute septicemic diseases, (avian Influenza, Newcastle disease, spirochetosis,), hepatic diseases (clostridiosis, colibacillosis, etc.), |
| Red (blood) | Fecal or Cecal | Acute hemorrhagic enteritis: coccidiosis (cecal coccidiosis due to E. tenella); Parasites, wound, cannibalism, other |
| Grey | Fecal or Cecal | Malabsorption, mixture of bile and urates, antitrypsin factor [soya or rapeseed (Canola) undercooked], other |
| Black (Tarry) | Fecal or Cecal | Temperature too warm with excess water consumption, (each °C above the comfort zone leads to an increase in water consumption by 10%); presence of melena (digested blood;pellet binder “Lignosol FG”; excess fiber (e.g., wheat, barley) |
| Undigested feed | Fecal or Cecal | Malabsorption, transit too fast, inadequate size particles in the ration, other |
GUIDELINE FOR CHANGES IN ADNORMAL DROPPING
| Aspects | Origin | Characteristics |
|---|---|---|
| Healthy | Fecal | Small with a white urate cap, rather melded, usually have a down feather attached to it, have no sign of wetness surrounding it; no smell, dry, colour greenish brown, absence of mucus or undigested grains |
| Healthy | Cecal | Varies in colour (can be dark almost black/brown), firm and smooth, viscous, smelly |
| Redflag | Fecal | Increased size, beginning of destructuration, oily, increased moisture |
| Redflag | Cecal | Watery, loss of consistency, foamy, colour change,early caecal dysfunction |
| Bad | Fecal | Watery, lost firmness, undigested feed, may have orange mucus |
| Bad | Cecal | Foamy, colour change, liquid, no consistency |
| Danger | Fecal | Watery diarrhea, undigested feed, mucus, necrotic material and/or blood |
| Danger | Caecal | Very foamy (mousse), spread, colour change, liquid |
CONCLUSION
Poultry droppings are not waste only, they also provide evidence for understanding the chicken’s internal health, so early detection is possible only through keen observation on a regular basis. Finally, the necessary measures could possibly be applied accordingly through medication or nutritional actions.
