The consistency of normal stool, as represented by the third and fourth categories in the chart, should be in a sausage shape, either smooth or with cracks on the surface. When stool falls into ...

Soft, smooth and sausage-shaped stool is a sign of good gastrointestinal health; soft blobs with clear-cut edges are fine too ...

The numbers 3 and 4 are where you want to be. "Numbers 1 and 2 are hard little nuggets or very hard stool; 3 and 4 are sausage-shaped and smooth. As you're going down to 5, 6 and 7 it becomes ...