# Fantail with stinky brown diarrhea



## Donna Miller (Dec 22, 2009)

Hello - Im new to this forum but have enjoyed reading the very informative posts - I have a fantail who has had stinky, brown diarrhea for the past 3 months - I initially to her/him to the vet when it first started and he tested the stool - and unfotunately came up with "nothing" - this bird in is a cage, by herself, in the house, came from a breeder from AK in good health, with another faintail that I gave to my sister (her bird is physically fine), began feeding seed mixture and switched to Harrisons High potency mash for 6 weeks and then the adult lifetime formula - he stools started getting weird about half way thought the high potency mash phase - the birds diarrhea squirts out like a hose and really smells bad. The vet gave me metronizidole/flagyl drops and after a few days she was fine - the problem is that after a few days of discontinuing the antibiotic the diarrhea starts all over again - I dont want to have to keep forcing antibiotics down this poor little animal - any thoughts or suggestions are greatly welcome - she/he is a great bird and loves to interact with our 2 small dogs (our 2 cats completely ignor the bird - thankfully)
Donna


----------



## Brummie (Feb 16, 2009)

Donna Miller said:


> Hello - Im new to this forum but have enjoyed reading the very informative posts - I have a fantail who has had stinky, brown diarrhea for the past 3 months - I initially to her/him to the vet when it first started and he tested the stool - and unfotunately came up with "nothing" - this bird in is a cage, by herself, in the house, came from a breeder from AK in good health, with another faintail that I gave to my sister (her bird is physically fine), began feeding seed mixture and switched to Harrisons High potency mash for 6 weeks and then the adult lifetime formula - he stools started getting weird about half way thought the high potency mash phase - the birds diarrhea squirts out like a hose and really smells bad. The vet gave me metronizidole/flagyl drops and after a few days she was fine - the problem is that after a few days of discontinuing the antibiotic the diarrhea starts all over again - I dont want to have to keep forcing antibiotics down this poor little animal - any thoughts or suggestions are greatly welcome - she/he is a great bird and loves to interact with our 2 small dogs (our 2 cats completely ignor the bird - thankfully)
> Donna


Apart from the smelly poop, is the bird in good shape?
Mash? sound's like a chicken feed?
Just my opinion, purge her of the mash (don't feed her for a 12 hour period). See how the dropping's are. If they have cleared up, you know it's the feed.
And when you start to feed again give her straight barley.See how she goes.
Vet's and there mother give out drug's without knowing the problem, a blanket solution , and a masking of the real problem.


----------



## Donna Miller (Dec 22, 2009)

Hi Brummie and thanks for the advice - Im in the medical field and agree with your generalization about the drugs... - Harrisons bird food is 100% organic and is supposed to be really good feed (it costs a bundle) - I have plain barley at home - Im sorry to sound so stupid, but should I cook it first or just give it to her whole or grind it a bit with a mortar? This is my second bird - my first white dove was tragically killed by a neighbors dog who happed to sneak into my houes! I cried for a week - I dont want to make any mistakes with DeeDee - she is too special!

She could have more energy - she gets excited when I come home and paces in fornt of her cage signaling me to let her out - overall - she is really healthy, likes to fly and eats like a pig - I change her water daily - sometimes more often if it gets poopy -


----------



## Brummie (Feb 16, 2009)

Donna Miller said:


> Hi Brummie and thanks for the advice - Im in the medical field and agree with your generalization about the drugs... - Harrisons bird food is 100% organic and is supposed to be really good feed (it costs a bundle) - I have plain barley at home - Im sorry to sound so stupid, but should I cook it first or just give it to her whole or grind it a bit with a mortar? This is my second bird - my first white dove was tragically killed by a neighbors dog who happed to sneak into my houes! I cried for a week - I dont want to make any mistakes with DeeDee - she is too special!
> 
> She could have more energy - she gets excited when I come home and paces in fornt of her cage signaling me to let her out - overall - she is really healthy, likes to fly and eats like a pig - I change her water daily - sometimes more often if it gets poopy -


There are no stupid question's!
I would not cook the feed
Do you give her grit? If you do not, I advice you to give her a bowl.


----------



## Donna Miller (Dec 22, 2009)

I give her crushed oyser shells in a small separate bowl - she does not seem very interested in them though - does not seem to eat them much


----------



## Charis (Feb 11, 2007)

The other option would be to go back to the feed that doesn't make her sick. There are members that rave about the pellets but can you imagine how boring that must be?
I give my Pigeons defrosted corn...peas, sprouts, minced raw carrots, field greens and whole grain bread , in addition to the pigeon seed mix and they have their favorites but love the variety.


----------



## plamenh (Aug 11, 2006)

I agree with Charis, best for pigeons is variety of seeds, greens and other supplements. Yes it is saving time to drop pellets in the dish, but diarrhea and other GI problems may follow.
Give him apple cider vinegar in the water (1 teaspoon to liter of water) weekly, charcoal grit, probiotics and cinnamon tea to restore his digestion. Switch back to seeds with little pellets and you will see changes.


----------



## Donna Miller (Dec 22, 2009)

Thank you all for your responses - My vet basically told me to switch the diet to seed and only a small ammt of the pellet - she said that 90% of GI issues with Doves are related to dietary needs and not pathogens like bacteria or viruses - just like people, what is good for one bird is not necessarily good for others - 
I really appreciate all you help and reccomendations - I wish I knew about this site a long time ago - I only have one dove but there is not alot of good resources out there when you run into a problem!

Merry Christmas to all!
Most sincerely
Donna


----------



## spirit wings (Mar 29, 2008)

Donna Miller said:


> Thank you all for your responses - My vet basically told me to switch the diet to seed and only a small ammt of the pellet - she said that 90% of GI issues with Doves are related to dietary needs and not pathogens like bacteria or viruses - just like people, what is good for one bird is not necessarily good for others -
> I really appreciate all you help and reccomendations - I wish I knew about this site a long time ago - I only have one dove but there is not alot of good resources out there when you run into a problem!
> 
> Merry Christmas to all!
> ...



just wondering why would you give the pigeon mash? if you use harrisons the high potency fine is a round pellet that pigeons like, the mash is just powder basically, that bird needs more substance in his diet, I would give him the high potency fine with a grain mix and see how it goes. and of course do not forget the grit.


----------



## Donna Miller (Dec 22, 2009)

spirit wings said:


> just wondering why would you give the pigeon mash? if you use harrisons the high potency fine is a round pellet that pigeons like, the mash is just powder basically, that bird needs more substance in his diet, I would give him the high potency fine with a grain mix and see how it goes. and of course do not forget the grit.


well- to be honest with you, my sister - (who has the other dove that I ordered) found out about the high potency mash though a friend who has a parrot (first mistake) the mash is for juvenile birds (doves included), you are supposed to fees the mash (which is a powdery substance) for about 6 weeks and then transition to the pellet - my bird had not stool problems when she was on the mash but after transitioning to the pellet - thats when things started to get weird - but I continued with the pellet thinking things would clear up on its own (second mistake) - took bird to vet after 3 mos of really stinky, projectile dirrhea, cleaning cage daily and basicially smelling up my entire home - vet could not find anything wrong with the bird but gave me flagyl drops -(third mistake) - birds poop returned to normal while taking the antibiotic but once it was stopped the poop became, again, pretty gross - all this time the bird is eating, happy, active and overall NOT SICK - let me just say this - all vets are not created equal - the first vet rased pigeons as a hobby while in med school so I really thought I was in the right hands - 
I learned my lesson the hard way (and the pricey way) that the diet is the most important thing and just because a product is "all naural and organic and expensive" does not make it good - I have change the diet to 50/50 with harrisons and a good seed mix which seems to be helping.
Thanks for the input and Happy Hollidays!
Sincerely,
Donna


----------



## spirit wings (Mar 29, 2008)

also try putting some apple cider vinager in the water, it can help with the stool... but you may know that already... glad to hear there is improvment... I would think about antibios again if it does not clear, sometimes bacteria shed and sometimes they do not and it can be hard to catch when tested.


----------

