[cwebster]

Fiona made a raspberry squirt noise when I picked her up and defecated a large loose clump of runny poop down my shirt tonight. She has been sitting on eggs nine and ten for a week and makes a loose runny poop every morning. Will try to get her droppings analyzed soon. But I am waiting until she is off the eggs to take her to the vet. I should have take a photo to post instead of throwing the shirt into the washer. Do your hens poop like that while they are sitting on eggs? Am thinking also of changing her to a better feed. Have been giving her kaytee healthy support diet for parrots and cockatiels. She just picks out the safflower seeds first. I put Quiko egg food on her seed and calcium in her water too. The local feed stores have large bags of pigeon food that is half corn. She won't eat that. She is kind of short beaked so likes small seed. Would foys short beaked food work for her? Don't know what breed she is, but her beak is kind of short like an old German owl pigeon or something.

 

[c.hert]

Catnip cannot eat too large of seed either so I just take the pigeon mix and ground it up in a coffee grinder---not too fine but large enough for her to eat. I also get her the pigeon and dove mix for seed and add that on top and I get this at Pet Smart and other pet stores as well. I also give her some Diamond Dove seed on top and she loves that as well. Once in awhile maybe one a week I cut up some romaine lettuce and maybe after grounding up a few peanuts raw and no salt although once in awhile I will give her a tiny bit of salt that comes from toasted whole wheat bread on top. I find females pigeons are very messy with the poopings and at first I was concerned but after many years I have come to expect it. They have their days. It depends on where they are in their cycle. Sometimes they eat a lot of grit and this seems to do this as well as peanuts and lettuce. I keep their food as basic as I can with fresh water and calcium and vitamin D in the water that I buy at Foys. They love the Pigeon Candy that Foys sell but this is given just as a treat. I used to get probiotic at Foys --- I think Foys brand and this help to make the poopings look better. Sitting on a nest or eggs "always" makes their poop runny and sometimes even thick and off green as well. By the way their poop looks , one would think that they are really sick. As long as they are healthy I would take day by day and just make sure they eat and drink and act normal...I have the droppings check by a avian vet about twice a year and I just gather it and bring it in and I get a report on it. Sometimes lack of flying and exercise will cause loose droppings as well.
Shared with you what I could and I hope it helps..

 

[AndreiS]

They do big poops when on eggs, but not liquid, unless they have a problem. Was the color green?

 

[AndreiS]

Not refering to her poop, but she may too have aspergillus, not because is contagious (is not much) but because similar conditions may lead to similar problems.

Fresh air, sun, (long range & time) exercise make the blood circulates in organism and make it strong.

Causes that favorize aspergillus are humidity, organic matter like wood, paper and so. Do the birds stay in an aviary or indoors? If latter, do they stay in a room with books? Books host a lot of fungi and also generate a quite toxic dust, reason for which librarians receive a wage toxicity addition of up to 15%, similar to workers in chemical industry:
http://www.library-dust.com/dust.htm

As the birds are more sensitive to air quality than humans, they must kept in a well ventilated environment, free of dust, humidity etc.

 

[Skyeking]

Fiona made a raspberry squirt noise when I picked her up and defecated a large loose clump of runny poop down my shirt tonight. She has been sitting on eggs nine and ten for a week and makes a loose runny poop every morning. Will try to get her droppings analyzed soon. But I am waiting until she is off the eggs to take her to the vet. I should have take a photo to post instead of throwing the shirt into the washer. Do your hens poop like that while they are sitting on eggs? Am thinking also of changing her to a better feed. Have been giving her kaytee healthy support diet for parrots and cockatiels. She just picks out the safflower seeds first. I put Quiko egg food on her seed and calcium in her water too. The local feed stores have large bags of pigeon food that is half corn. She won't eat that. She is kind of short beaked so likes small seed. Would foys short beaked food work for her? Don't know what breed she is, but her beak is kind of short like an old German owl pigeon or something.

Yeah sometimes the broody poops can get a little wet but they can be stinky too. BUT, if she is picking out safflower seed (those are a favorite of pigeons) they are loaded with fat and will make the birds have the squirts too. They should only get about 2% safflower in the mix.

I would watch out for that pigeon feed that is half corn, (that is way too much for indoor pigeons) it may just be a winter mix which is fine in colder weather-they will eat lots of corn for fuel (to stay warm) , but most of the corn out there is GMO.

 

[kiddy]

I find their poops really bad and smelly when they are on eggs. I kept worrying earlier but once they are off the eggs, poops changed to normal.

 

[Skyeking]

I find their poops really bad and smelly when they are on eggs. I kept worrying earlier but once they are off the eggs, poops changed to normal.

I actually have added some alfalfa tabs to my hens diets when they were on eggs and it actually did take away the stinky smell in their poop (with some added nutritional benefits)... due to the chlorophyll content.

 

[Whytpigeon]

Fiona made a raspberry squirt noise when I picked her up and defecated a large loose clump of runny poop down my shirt tonight. She has been sitting on eggs nine and ten for a week and makes a loose runny poop every morning. Will try to get her droppings analyzed soon. But I am waiting until she is off the eggs to take her to the vet. I should have take a photo to post instead of throwing the shirt into the washer. Do your hens poop like that while they are sitting on eggs? Am thinking also of changing her to a better feed. Have been giving her kaytee healthy support diet for parrots and cockatiels. She just picks out the safflower seeds first. I put Quiko egg food on her seed and calcium in her water too. The local feed stores have large bags of pigeon food that is half corn. She won't eat that. She is kind of short beaked so likes small seed. Would foys short beaked food work for her? Don't know what breed she is, but her beak is kind of short like an old German owl pigeon or something.

Yes it is normal. I know sometimes we want to "fix" things that are not pleasant but you don't have too fix normal. I like the idea of a healthy diet reguardless if the pairs are breeding on eggs or not. I like to offer baths in the mornings to pairs on eggs, the hen will most times get up when seeing the others bathing and do her business then take a bath. The longer on the nest the bigger the bomb...lol.. So getting her off and giving her a break and some movement can keep her cleaned out a bit better. But really you don't HAVE to do anything.

 

[kiddy]

I actually have added some alfalfa tabs to my hens diets when they were on eggs and it actually did take away the stinky smell in their poop (with some added nutritional benefits)... due to the chlorophyll content.

Seems a good idea instead blocking your nostrils with some cloth
Will try to find it out for the next time, we have alfalfa tonic easily available here though.

 

[cwebster]

Am going to get her seen by the vet once she stops sitting on her eggs to make sure she doesn't have aspergillosis. Chloe was in a bedroom. Fiona is indoors in the living room. We open a lot of windows and run fans but there are books and boxes. There is a cage nearby with a scrub jay we are rehabilitating who us a total dirtbag because he scatters pistachio shells, ripped up newspaper, etc everywhere. Think there is an ELISA test for aspergillosis. Will get Fiona's poop tested, try to improve her access to fresh air, and will make an effort to make sure she stays healthy. BTW, her food has almost no corn but am looking for a better mix without so much safflower. Will also try to increase her exercise.

 

[CBL]

C do u have access or means to buy some preventative things, eg: trizole, tonys treasure, any 4-1. Its good to keep at least 2 canker meds and rotate every 3rd or 4th treatment and one general antibiotic , thats it. I favour tylamox or amoxitex. Ive heard and read that they rarely get bugs/infections and that the canker is the biggest issue that can cause secondary issues when breeding, laying eggs, and moulting, or any other stress, like racing. I think it will serve you better than always paying the big bucks after the fact at the avian vet and ending up losing the bird anyway.
Prevention I think is more key that chasing down a diagnosis, never mind a cure.

 

[cwebster]

After another sleepless night, am seriously considering rehoming Fiona. I cannot take the heartache anymore taking care of pigeons. After losing Phoebe and Chloe, I don't want to lose Fiona too. Am tired of worrying about their health. I don't know whether Fiona is sick or just broody and making broody poop. Will also release the scrub jay and not rescue anyone else.

 

[CBL]

I know how you feel, but hang in there, a simple stool sample brought to the vets in a clean container is all you need right now. Do that minimally and see what they come up with. Dont worry about anything else. Take even an empty pill container or clean glass jar or baggie and collect poop over 3 to 5 days and bring in, keep in fridge between collections. Do 3 days, that way it is quicker, also pay for the culture and sensitivity as that will tell you about bacteria, not just parasites.
Ask for both.

 

[Skyeking]

I am so sorry about this and I understand how frustrating this can be.

Prevention really is the key, here is a start: http://www.pigeons.biz/forums/f14/prevention-amp-nutrition-for-racing-homing-pigeons-10859.html

I was lucky to find a licensed and certified bird rehabber in my area who uses holistic/natural remedies for treating pigeons as well as for prevention, and she rehabs countless numbers of injured and sick wildlife, and perhaps you may have someone in your area that can help. This has really opened eyes in regards to prevention. You can also incorporate this with traditional medicine.

 

[AndreiS]

Am going to get her seen by the vet once she stops sitting on her eggs to make sure she doesn't have aspergillosis. Chloe was in a bedroom. Fiona is indoors in the living room. We open a lot of windows and run fans but there are books and boxes. There is a cage nearby with a scrub jay we are rehabilitating who us a total dirtbag because he scatters pistachio shells, ripped up newspaper, etc everywhere. Think there is an ELISA test for aspergillosis. Will get Fiona's poop tested, try to improve her access to fresh air, and will make an effort to make sure she stays healthy. BTW, her food has almost no corn but am looking for a better mix without so much safflower. Will also try to increase her exercise.

Key is to become as strong as possible. Focum must be on strengthening, while figthing the diseases that appear.

Give her from the herbs from the list in the link from my signature, particularly chamomil (I replaced their water with chamomil tea most of the time), echinacea, garlic (you can mix garlic juice with food, it makes it tasty but in water will be less tasty, especially if you put other things in water). Also alfalfa and the the others, if you can afford. And vitamin A, which increases immunity, generates appetite and ofcourse the B vitamins, probiotics permanently (is enough to put a little amount of probiotics in water as they multiply rapidly, you see a whitish - transparent deposit on the bottom of the vessel.

Have you thought at teaching your birds to return home, which will make them able to go fly free outside? Is kind of time consumming but if you're interested, I can tell you or I can write a private messsage. I managed to make tens of rescued pigeons return to my home (I have over thirty now and most of them know to return).

 

[Whytpigeon]

Am going to get her seen by the vet once she stops sitting on her eggs to make sure she doesn't have aspergillosis. Chloe was in a bedroom. Fiona is indoors in the living room. We open a lot of windows and run fans but there are books and boxes. There is a cage nearby with a scrub jay we are rehabilitating who us a total dirtbag because he scatters pistachio shells, ripped up newspaper, etc everywhere. Think there is an ELISA test for aspergillosis. Will get Fiona's poop tested, try to improve her access to fresh air, and will make an effort to make sure she stays healthy. BTW, her food has almost no corn but am looking for a better mix without so much safflower. Will also try to increase her exercise.

Is she having symptoms of aspergillosis? You did not mention it . If you are going to do testing for just in case then I would do it with all your birds. Diagnosis can be difficult. But that should be another thread in its self.
On the first subject,
Getting her off the nest more times is helpful with the large volume droppings.

 

[cwebster]

Will try to get Fiona off the nest more often. She doesn't have any symptoms of aspergillosis but I worry because the air quality indoors is not as good as outside. She is our only pigeon now since we lost Chloe.

 

[AndreiS]

Will try to get Fiona off the nest more often. She doesn't have any symptoms of aspergillosis but I worry because the air quality indoors is not as good as outside. She is our only pigeon now since we lost Chloe.

Have you thought at teaching your bird(s) to come back home in released? I taught tens of birds this (I keep them in an appartment). You can do this using a leash, taking the bird with you outside to get used with the suroundings and also keeping the bird at the open window fastened with the same leash, only when you are present, to avoid accidents or possible attacks of predators. It takes long time and you shouldn't release them until you're sure they will return.

If you're interested, I can give more details, including about the design of the leash, which is crucial (if done wrong, the bird can escape).

 

[kiddy]

After another sleepless night, am seriously considering rehoming Fiona. I cannot take the heartache anymore taking care of pigeons. After losing Phoebe and Chloe, I don't want to lose Fiona too. Am tired of worrying about their health. I don't know whether Fiona is sick or just broody and making broody poop. Will also release the scrub jay and not rescue anyone else.

I can understand you completely cwebster. I have been feeling the very same way since my bird is gone. Nothing interests me. May be some are strong but we aren't probably. If I can get a good loft from a caring owner where I can see them sometimes I would be really interested in giving mine ones to that person but without that I can't give them in wrong hands. When they die we just almost die with them. Can't afford this much stress.
I will rescue birds whenever I get a chance, will look after them until release because I can't just leave them dying but won't have any pets again. It is a lesson for life.

 

[AndreiS]

Love is stronger then death, death is just a temporary separation, kiddy. We gonna see our pigeons again.