Poops...what do they REALLY mean

[jbangelfish]

When I see green poop, I think of one thing and that is Paratyphoid. It is quite common and actually it's fairly easily cured. Foy's or any of the pigeon supply places should have a number of products that can and will cure it. Most of them are sulpha drugs.

If your pigeons eat green food such as peas, the poop could be green but a runny bright green type that gets into the tail and wing feathers almost always means Paratyphoid. The eventual outcome is lameness in a leg joint or a droopy wing from a swollen joint. You can feel the swelling in the joint.

It is a serious problem but it is easily cured. Not letting feed lay on the floor and not letting feces get into the feed is the only prevention of this disease. It is best to have your birds eat all of their feed within a short period of time and clean up any leftover feed from the floor. They are not smart enough not to eat dirty feed. Clean water and clean feed are a must for a variety of health reasons for your birds.

Bill

[Cliff]

When it comes to loose, watery or greenish droppings, it seems like the Charles Siegel Co. has come up with an excellent product. The product name is Ecol-Tonic and is an all natural product that is very effective at treating bacterial, viral or fungal infections. Ecol-Tonic is a liquid and is placed in the drinking water. It is very effective at preventing intestinal problems as well as correcting the problems. It is extremely useful for newly weaned youngsters whose digestive systems are still somewhat fragile.

[Jojopotato]

I love this site if you have a question or concern you can usually find it fast..

I was pretty sure my dove, who is sitting on eggs, and left a egg size poo near her food tray was doing this because of her sitting on eggs... This post just confirmed that for me... Thank You!

[Janet]

Hey Brad, nice poopy pics!! I actually see the first poopy pic alot in my loft. Its a very unpleasant experience during cleaning time. YUCK! We've been giving our birds grit and they seem to enjoy every bit of it. Its like a war zone as soon as they see us coming with it. Feathers going everywhere and everyway. You will litterally have to dodge them. I guess we should cut back on the grit a bit. You all mentioned worms. How do you know if they have worms? Will you actually see a worm in their poop? Squigly,Squigly!!

[Charis]

Originally Posted by Janet

Hey Brad, nice poopy pics!! I actually see the first poopy pic alot in my loft. Its a very unpleasant experience during cleaning time. YUCK! We've been giving our birds grit and they seem to enjoy every bit of it. Its like a war zone as soon as they see us coming with it. Feathers going everywhere and everyway. You will litterally have to dodge them. I guess we should cut back on the grit a bit. You all mentioned worms. How do you know if they have worms? Will you actually see a worm in their poop? Squigly,Squigly!!

Sometimes the worms are visible and sometimes they aren't.
Not all wormers are safe and some members have had fatalities with the wormers they have used on their pigeons. It's best not to worm babies or squeakers because it can kill them. If you have parents that are feeding young ones, you wouldn't want to worm them either.

[Pigeonpal2002]

Originally Posted by Janet

Hey Brad, nice poopy pics!! I actually see the first poopy pic alot in my loft. Its a very unpleasant experience during cleaning time. YUCK! We've been giving our birds grit and they seem to enjoy every bit of it. Its like a war zone as soon as they see us coming with it. Feathers going everywhere and everyway. You will litterally have to dodge them. I guess we should cut back on the grit a bit. You all mentioned worms. How do you know if they have worms? Will you actually see a worm in their poop? Squigly,Squigly!!

Hello Janet,

Yes, sometimes pigeons eat too much grit and it causes the droppings to look awful and nasty. What kind of grit(s) do you use?

Like Charis mentioned, you can't always see worms in the droppings, it depends on what kind of worms you're dealing with. Thread or hair worms are very tiny, almost microscopic. Round worms are the ones you would be able to see in the droppings, about an inch long or so. Both are common in pigeons but the tinier worms are actually considered more dangerous. They can build up in such large numbers effectively clogging the intestines and causing severe damage to the intestinal tract.

You could take some samples into your vet (if you have one) and get them to do a fecal. Otherwise, I believe pigeons should be routinely wormed twice a year; once in the fall, once in the spring. If you keep your birds outside or are free flying, then it's almost certain that they will acquire some kind of worms at some point.

My medicine of choice for worms is injectable Ivermectin which I give orally to my birds.

[Dee1]

Quote:
When I see green poop, I think of one thing and that is Paratyphoid. It is quite common and actually it's fairly easily cured. Foy's or any of the pigeon supply places should have a number of products that can and will cure it. Most of them are sulpha drugs.

If your pigeons eat green food such as peas, the poop could be green but a runny bright green type that gets into the tail and wing feathers almost always means Paratyphoid. The eventual outcome is lameness in a leg joint or a droopy wing from a swollen joint. You can feel the swelling in the joint.
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I just brought my female pigeon to the vet last night. She had green poop and the vet said green means a liver problem. I don't think anyone in this thread mentioned green = liver. I brought her to the vet because she is having problems with both of her legs being lame which occurs when she lays eggs. She prescribed Vibramycm 1 cc once a day. But my pigeon is also under-weight, so I guess it makes sense also if green means hunger. Very confusing!

[Lady Tarheel]

I always associate yellow/orange poop with liver problems and green with hunger or poor diet.

[Dee1]

Originally Posted by Lady Tarheel

I always associate yellow/orange poop with liver problems and green with hunger or poor diet.

Very interesting -thanks. I'll have to talk with her tomorrow. She's not my regular doctor and I get uneasy when I have to go to someone new.

[jbangelfish]

Originally Posted by Dee1

Quote:
When I see green poop, I think of one thing and that is Paratyphoid. It is quite common and actually it's fairly easily cured. Foy's or any of the pigeon supply places should have a number of products that can and will cure it. Most of them are sulpha drugs.

If your pigeons eat green food such as peas, the poop could be green but a runny bright green type that gets into the tail and wing feathers almost always means Paratyphoid. The eventual outcome is lameness in a leg joint or a droopy wing from a swollen joint. You can feel the swelling in the joint.
--------------------------------------------------------------

I just brought my female pigeon to the vet last night. She had green poop and the vet said green means a liver problem. I don't think anyone in this thread mentioned green = liver. I brought her to the vet because she is having problems with both of her legs being lame which occurs when she lays eggs. She prescribed Vibramycm 1 cc once a day. But my pigeon is also under-weight, so I guess it makes sense also if green means hunger. Very confusing!

How would a pigeon get liver damage? Not impossible I suppose but...

Bright green feces that look like paint are an almost sure sign of Paratyphoid, very common in pigeons and very easily remedied also. Clean water, no mice (nearly impossible but we have to try) and a once a year treatment of antibiotic or sulpha drug.

Bill

The

[Janet]

I didn't know there was different kinds of grit. Also, about the green poop, I'm getting a bit freaked out. My birds will poop green. Kind of looks like mush. I don't know who's doing it. We have babies in there and I thought it was from them and the crop milk. Now what? Great green poop! I thought I fed them good food. Its pigeon food. Fresh water a couple times a day and grit. Now they might have para something or liver problems, or hunger. What should I do. Who had to bring up the green poop thing. I'm not going to be able to sleep tonight.

[jbangelfish]

Originally Posted by Janet

I didn't know there was different kinds of grit. Also, about the green poop, I'm getting a bit freaked out. My birds will poop green. Kind of looks like mush. I don't know who's doing it. We have babies in there and I thought it was from them and the crop milk. Now what? Great green poop! I thought I fed them good food. Its pigeon food. Fresh water a couple times a day and grit. Now they might have para something or liver problems, or hunger. What should I do. Who had to bring up the green poop thing. I'm not going to be able to sleep tonight.

Spring is the perfect time to treat for Paratyphoid. Mice usually come into our coops in the winter and they bring many problems with them.

There are many products available from Foy's to treat any disease. I just treated all of mine with Albon, which is a sulpha drug and it will cure Paratyphoid and a few other pigeon diseases. I don't know if I had any problems or not but it's a good idea to do this in the spring before a breeding season. Sulphas are also safe enough to use during the breeding season if you discover a problem, which it seems that you have. Albon is liquid but there are powdered sulphas that you can add to the water as well.

This is not a big deal and I'd bet that a lot of people have this in their loft without knowing it. Whether you have it or not, it's a good thing to treat for once a year. If mice ever get into your loft, you should definately treat your birds. Left untreated, Paratyphoid can cause swollen joints in legs and wings and eventually crippled birds or birds that are unable to fly.

Treatment is simple, safe, lasts 14 days and you can forget about it until next year. If there have been mice in your loft, it is definately best to poison them as soon as you see any or evidence of them being around. Stop them before they become a big problem.

Bill

[Janet]

Thats good to know! I live in the woods and we definately have plenty of mice. I don't know if there in the loft or not, but I will keep a good look out for them. I'm checking into Foys and going to try and get all the meds I need to keep them healthy. How long do pigeons usually live?

[Charis]

A good 12-20 years depending. In the wild a much shorter time.

[Janet]

Wow! 12-20 years. Thats amazing. Didn't know those little fellows could have such a life span. Anyways, IO droped off 3 fecal matters this morning to the vet. I took in the ones that didn't look normal and one thatloked semi-normal. One is a rather bright green, but not to bright, and mushy looking. The other one had a little darker color, like it was almost black, and the last one was semi-normal looking. My vet said that its best not to treat them if nothing is wrong. Plus- he wants to make sure there prescribed the right meds if something is wrong. I told him thatI've been talking on this website and have been getting some good info. I can't thank "pigeon talk" enogh. Very happy I found out about this. I'll keep you all informed about the poopy test outcome. I never thought raising pigeons could involve soo much. Hey, I guess there no diferent than having dogs and cats as pets.