Me and my wife had this argument a couple of months ago when I told her I had never seen any of our chickens urinate.(this is our first year with chickens)I seriously am yet to see a chicken urinate,does it come out as one package?Anyone feel like filling me in on this mystery.Thanks

-- Dave (duckthis1@maqs.net), January 07, 2002

Answers

Are you asking if they hike a leg and pee?!!!! Not quite, their urine and poop is all mixed together and all comes out at once. As far as I know all birds do the number 3.

-- r.h. in okla. (rhays@sstelco.com), January 08, 2002.

this was recently discussed on another message forum I read. the answer given there is that the white part of chicken poop is the urine. guess I'll have to accept that on good faith.

-- B. Lackie (cwrench@hotmail.com), January 08, 2002.

Yes, chickens expel all waste out of a common orifice, the scienific name of which means sewer.

-- Jay Blair in N. AL (jayblair678@yahoo.com), January 08, 2002.

Yep, birds and reptiles package it differently. Mammals create water- soluble urea. Birds and reptiles produce solids which I think are uric acid (the same thing that gives us kidney stones). One of the reasons why reptiles can live in deserts with only the amount of moisture contained in their prey.

-- Don Armstrong (darmst@yahoo.com.au), January 08, 2002.

Never have really thought of this. But it is an interesting question and I feel I have been educated today on this matter. Now I will ask my family this and show how smart I am to have an answer!!!!

RenieB

-- Irene Burt (renienorm@aol.com), January 08, 2002.

The word is "cloaca" and the eggs pass from the body there too. Before you gag on that one, there is a little valve for lack of better word that closes off the fecal material as the egg comes down the oviduct to exit her body.

-- marilyn (rainbow@ktis.net), January 08, 2002.

B. Lackie has the answer. The "urine" is the white part of the droppings. GL!

-- Brad (homefixer@SacoRiver.net), January 08, 2002.

This made me think of a funny thing that happened when I used to sell eggs. My mom took them into the bank where she worked & sold more than I could produce. One time a co-worker put in a special order for several dozen. I had most of them cleaned up, but my mom just popped them all into the cartons clean or not. Some had a bit of poop stain & the customer complained (jokingly). I looked at him, smiled, and said "Chickens only have one hole". He turned green and then we both had a good laugh.

-- ellie (Elnorams@aol.com), January 08, 2002.

I've learned from this one too. I just HAD to check the answer. I was wondering if anybody knew the answer to this... I was once told that eggs preserve better if you don't clean them after gathering. That there was something of a preservative finish in that there cloaca slip that helped the eggs out, and washing it off was the first step in decreasing the shelflife of the egg. Is it true?

-- roberto pokachinni (pokachinni@yahoo.com), January 14, 2002.

Roberto according to everything I've read yes there is a protective coating on the egg and washing the egg allows bacteria to enter thru the pores of the egg more than with the eggs not being washed I believe the coating is called the protective bloom.

-- george (bngcrview@aol.com), January 14, 2002.

Chickens don't pee because they eat with their pecker.

-- John Hayes (jehayes54@hotmail.com), January 15, 2002.