It’s not uncommon to find dog poop on the ground being consumed by canines, whether you live on a farm or just have a few chickens in the backyard. Chicken poop is one of the less appetizing things that some dogs seem willing to eat.
We’ll go over the potential health risks to your dog from eating chicken poop as well as some solutions for deterring him from doing so in the future.
Puppy dogs in particular are notorious for sniffing around with their mouths.
As a result, it’s not shocking to find dogs consuming unusual foods, such as chicken feces.
This behavior may have a physiological or psychological origin, or both.
They Enjoy the Taste
A dog’s preference for the flavor of chicken poop may explain why some dogs eat it. Dog owners are well aware of their pets’ propensity to scavenge for food.
It’s possible they came across some chicken poop; after all, if you keep chickens, there can be a lot of droppings to pick through.
Nutrient Deficiency
Some dogs may resort to eating chicken poop if they aren’t getting enough of the right nutrients from their regular food.
Example: if a dog’s diet doesn’t provide enough protein or B vitamins, the dog will seek out these nutrients in other ways.
Due to the presence of undigested proteins in many forms of feces, this can sometimes involve eating feces. It’s possible your dog found them in the garbage.
Seeking Attention
Dogs are social creatures and will naturally gravitate toward their owners for company and companionship. To many canines, it doesn’t matter if the focus is positive or negative; they just want to be noticed.
Knowing that you’ll come to yell at them, they may be eating chicken poop.
You may believe that you are correcting or teaching the dogs, but they may interpret your actions very differently.
If dogs are only praised for undesirable behaviors, they may associate positive attention with those actions. They might resort to eating chicken poop again if they want to get your attention.
Rather than rewarding your dog when he steals chicken food, try to ignore him as much as possible and instead focus on the positive aspects of your time together.
He’ll eventually stop trying to get a reaction out of you and instead seek out pleasant conversation.
Copying the Examples of Other Dogs
Dogs are remarkably perceptive animals, and they may even have an innate ability to mimic human behavior. As long as there are other dogs around, they can pick up new skills quickly.
As in the present case, imitation can result in good or even desirable behaviors, but it can also lead to bad or even repulsive ones.
If one of your dogs eats chicken poop, the others might follow suit in the mistaken belief that they are benefiting in some way.
Boredom
Possibly bored to death, some dogs resort to eating chicken droppings.
A possible chain of events would have led to their eating chicken poop: boredom, curiosity, exploration, and finally, experimentation.
Unfortunately, many dogs quickly become addicted to it once they get a taste for it.
Anxiety
Dogs’ insatiable appetite for chicken droppings may also stem from underlying psychological issues.
Habit formation is a coping mechanism for dogs with separation anxiety or dogs living in a stressful environment.
As a result, if you leave an anxious dog unattended in a location where he can easily access feces, he may start eating chicken poop out of pure habit.
Is Chicken Poop Harmful to Dogs?
If the thought of your dog chowing down on some chicken droppings makes you nauseous, rest assured that it is not harmful to them. But that doesn’t mean you should give in and let them gorge themselves on poop.
Indeed, dogs can become ill from it, not due to the chicken poop itself but due to the pathogens and parasites that may be present in the feces.
Dogs who regularly eat chicken droppings may face the following risks:
Salmonella
Giardia
Microorganisms that live in the intestines
To sum up, your dog will not be poisoned by chicken droppings, but he or she still might get sick from contact with them.
Will Eating Chicken Poop Make My Dog Sick?
Your dog may get sick if it eats chicken poop, but this is not always the case. Your dog is probably safe from getting sick from chicken droppings if your chickens are healthy. But if your chickens are sick, your dog shouldn’t eat the poop either.
The most common illnesses your dog may develop after ingesting chicken poop are listed below.
Giardia
Among the parasites found in chicken droppings is giardia. Your dog may show symptoms of giardia such as bloat, flatulence, vomiting, and diarrhea. Mucus, a greenish hue, or even blood could be present in your dog’s poop.
If your dog consumes chicken feces from infected chickens, they will get the virus. Your dog will get sick from just smelling or licking the waste. Especially in puppies, parvovirus can have devastating effects on canine health.
Diarrhea, vomiting, and fatigue are some of the symptoms. The heart is another organ that can be affected.
Salmonella
Your dog can get salmonella, a bacterial disease, from eating chicken droppings. If your dog is showing any of these symptoms, it may have salmonella. Dogs and humans share a common pathogen: Salmonella can be transferred between the two.
Worms
Eating chicken poop can give your dog worms like roundworms and tapeworms. Worms, or the larvae of those worms, can be passed from chicken to human through their droppings. Dogs can get sick from eating poop because worms from the ground can crawl up into it.
Changes in the dog’s coat, diarrhea, vomiting, and the presence of bright red or dark purple blood in the feces are all signs that your dog may have worms.
How To Stop a Dog From Eating Chicken Poop
Even though it’s not the end of the world if your dog eats chicken poop, you should still try to discourage it. To keep your dog from eating chicken droppings, consider the following advice.
Train Your Dogs To Stay Away From the Area
Train the dog to obey commands by devoting some time and energy to the process. Basic commands like “drop it” and “leave it” can be taught to puppies as early as the puppy stage.
In this way, they will understand when you ask them to stop interfering.
Confine Your Chickens
Simplify matters by constructing a wall between the chicken coop and the area the dogs can roam.
By keeping them at a safe distance from one another, you can prevent the dogs from ingesting any of the harmful bacteria and parasites that may be in the chickens’ droppings.
Provide Your Dog With More Exercise
Dogs who get regular exercise are less likely to engage in destructive behaviors like eating chicken poop.
In order to keep your dog happy and healthy, you should give him plenty of opportunities for physical exercise every day. Keep in mind that a dog is more likely to be well-behaved after a good workout.
Provide More Mental Stimulation
The dog will be less likely to experience anxiety and boredom if he is kept mentally stimulated in addition to his physical activity.
Simply put, if you take the time to provide mental stimulation for your dog, he will be less likely to resort to eating chicken poop as a means of relieving boredom or stress.
Consult Your Vet To Ensure Diet Is Not Lacking
It is especially important for growing and active dogs to have a balanced diet. See a veterinarian if you’re worried.
It’s a big hassle to clean up after the chickens, and it seems like they never stop defecating.
Regular coop cleaning and hygiene practices, on the other hand, will reduce the amount of waste available for canine scavengers to feast on.
Alter the Taste of Chicken Poop
Dogs that enjoy the taste of chicken poop can be dissuaded from eating it by making it taste unpleasant.
If you want to keep dogs away from the chicken poop, you could spray it with something they don’t like, like chili spices or lemon-based scents.
Pineapple, which both dogs and chickens find unpleasant, is another option.
Avoid Encouraging the Behavior
You might think it’s a bad idea to get all worked up if you catch your dog eating chicken poop, but to your dog, it might be just what he wants to hear. Ultimately, he did manage to catch your interest.
(Remember that some canines benefit greatly from any kind of interaction with their owners.)
Avoid a strong reaction by finding alternative means of preventing them from eating chicken poop. In this case, it may be helpful to employ methods of diversion.
FAQs
Why Do Dogs Eat Grass?
Dogs frequently engage in the practice of consuming grass for various reasons.
Dogs munch on grass as a source of fiber or to fill nutritional gaps in their diet.
When they start to feel sick, they eat grass to make themselves throw up.
When dogs get bored, they like to distract themselves by chewing on grass.
Why Do Dogs Eat Cat Poop?
While you might find the smell of cat feces offensive, your dogs might mistake it for the scent of their favorite meal. This explains why your dog has taken to rummaging through the litter box in search of food scraps.
However, there are additional factors that contribute to dogs eating cat waste. They could be trying to address issues like protein deficiency or the desire to satiate a primal need to hunt and gather.
Cat feces may attract dogs because of the protein they contain, which dogs lack.
Conclusion
Your dog may one day be found eating chicken poop, but there are many potential causes for this and you shouldn’t worry too much.
The dog may be anxious or bored for a variety of reasons, some of which are physiological, such as an unhealthy diet, a lack of exercise, and an appealing taste of chicken poop.
Any way you look at it, eliminating the practice is mandatory. Despite the fact that chicken poop is not toxic to dogs, the bacteria and parasites that are commonly found in feces can make them very sick.
