Poops - what do they tell us?

[Pigeonpal2002]

Hi Everyone,

I'd just like to bring this subject up to one and all. It would seem that poop concerns are a HUGE topic of debate here in our forum and I would just like to say a few things about this.

I know for myself in my "earlier" days of not being familiar with pigeon diseases, proper nutrition/health maintenace, medications, and the various forms of feces I was looking at, I was very bewildered at times. I've seen all kinds of pigeon poop; runny and green, black with white urates, slimy and pea green, yellow liquid, mostly water, spaghetti feces in water etc. etc etc. What I'm trying to say is that I've been exposed to all forms that pigeon poop can take

We as pigeon folks, even as bird people altogther have been predispositioned to watch, look, monitor and note what a bird's feces *should* look like at all times. It's very true that poop can be directly related to the state of a pigeons health but it's not the holy grail that we have become accustomed to hearing over and over.

There are nearly as many reasons for inconsistant poops in pigeons as the colours in which they come in. Watery feces can be attributed to excessive drinking (plain & simple thirst on a hot day), green droppings can be caused by hunger, high pea ingestion or certain other green legumes in excess. Large smelly droppings are often expelled from a bird after sitting on the nest for long periods of time. Slimy feces can be caused by a high fruit or vegetable intake. Medications/supplements/temperatures/heat/cold/age/male or female all play into this equation too. The point is, droppings in our birds vary from day to day, week to week and month to month. What is important is to see "normal" droppings during these times....the classic nutty green/brown, firm droppings with a white dollup on top.

I feel at times, we are being burdened by over analyzation of what all these different droppings mean. We as humans don't always have the same type of bowel movements and they can vary from day to day with diet, excersize, dietary changes, nervousness, overall nutrition etc, and the same is true for our pigeons. This however, DOESN"T mean that our birds are dying or in need of medical attention. It's also important to watch their overall behaviours, actions and day to day routines...this can also give us much insight of what is going on with their health.

I have 2 younger pigeons (just over a year old), they are domestic, indoor birds that have never been exposed to the outdoors, they are separated from the my other pigeons, and have excellent dietary choices. They are given multi-vitamins 2 times per week, ACV 2 times per week and probiotics once a week or if needed more. I also give them brewers yeast tablets once per month & fish oil capsules once a month. The have special multi spectrum lighting in their room, the area is scrubbed meticulously every day and the room is well ventilated as well. These birds are robust, almost hyper active, eat well for hand reared birds but....they have droppings that (at times) have matched every one of the descriptions I've listed above. They've been treated for worms now and also coccidia (just in case). Again, my point is this, pigeon droppings can be very inconsistant and unusual but it doesn't necessarily reflect bad or failing health.

I just wanted to mention this to everyone because I felt it was important for us to realize that not all "suspicious" droppings mean doom and gloom. Everyone should have their birds feces taken to an avian vet for testing every 6 months and if all checks out ok, chances are, the birds themselves are just fine

[John_D]

Discussions on this topic can now be found in 'General Discussions'

http://www.pigeons.biz/forums/f5/poo...ean-11637.html