# Interpretation of Droppings



## Guest

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Let's Celebrate Pet Birds!
T.J. Lafeber D.V.M.	NetPets®



Interpretation of Droppings

The bird owner has many good reasons to watch droppings daily. In fact, they are one of the best indicators of the bird's health.

Since birds effectively hide their sicknesses from our view, every means must be taken to recognize signs of sickness in pet birds. Because the droppings provide us with a wealth of information about the bird's health, it behooves us to watch them daily. A bird that develops diarrhea doesn't cause any mess in the house, nor is the diarrhea odoriferous. It is easy for the diarrhea to go unnoticed. If the dog had a similar diarrhea in the house, there is no doubt he would be taken to the veterinarian to have his problem corrected immediately. Likewise, if the dog started urinating in the house or started to wet the area where he slept at night, the owners would be disturbed and would have immediate veterinary care. The bird which is urinating more frequently than usual is fortunate to have his master even notice it. Urinary and intestinal problems could go on for weeks or months without the owner suspecting that something is wrong. Possibly the dog owner who takes his pet to the veterinarian for diarrhea may be more concerned about the mess in the house than the animal's health. With the bird, we don't even have a situation that irritates the household.

The bird depends upon a concerned owner and is much more dependent upon a giving master than the dog or cat is.

With reasonable awareness, information can be gleaned about the following.

Volume of Food Ingested
Because the bird's digestive system is short and efficient, the food which he eats today is passed through the intestinal tract today. Therefore, the fecal portion of the droppings reflects the quantity of food that he has eaten that specific day. The bird who fills his crop in the morning will pass feces all day even though eating no more until evening. The overnight droppings relate to the evening feeding.

A sick bird that consumes only half his regular volume of food will immediately decrease his droppings to half the normal volume. This same sick bird might be drinking an increased amount of water and thus passing more urine (white urates and water urine). Thus, there could be just as many droppings, but of urine content not fecal material.

Functioning of the Digestive System
The normal fecal elimination from the bowel has a green to black color, a finely granular texture, and carries the shape of the intestinal tract. Many factors have an influence on this description. Departure from the standard norm occurs primarily with the type of food in the diet.

Even when functioning normally, the feces will be eliminated in different colors, depending upon-the rate of passage through the intestinal tract, the type of food ingested, and the amount of water it contains. Bulky food, such as greens, passes through more rapidly and makes a green, soft stool. More concentrated foods make a drier, darker stool.

Problems of abnormal function may include:

* Whole seeds passing in the droppings
* The droppings becoming a light color
* The feces changing to a coarser texture
* Large bulky droppings

Other problems of abnormal function would require laboratory tests for their detection.

In general, when the digestive system is not functioning properly, food is not being digested. The effect is the same as if the bird were not eating sufficient amounts of food. This, in effect, would cause an increased hunger and a weight loss. Some of these birds may be eating twice as much as usual and still be losing weight.

Abnormalities of the Intestinal Tract
Before attempting to evaluate droppings for abnormalities, a person should know normals. As a variation in size and consistency occurs between healthy birds, a normal should be established for each individual. This would best be done at the time the bird is purchased, as it will also serve to confirm the bird's health at that time. The stool has a range of shapes and colors according to the food ingested. In the course of 24 hours, some stools will be passed that appear unnatural, but the majority conform to the standard. This type of happening occurs and should not cause alarm. It the majority of the droppings lack their normal shape, an intestinal tract problem exists. The presence of irregular droppings warns of a problem but does not tell the cause of the problem. The following list of items should be considered:

* INFECTIONS - virus, bacteria, yeast, fungus

* PARASITES

* DIET- moldy foods, decomposed foods, toxic foods, foods irritating to the intestinal tract

* PROBLEMS THAT AFFECT OTHER PARTS OF THE BODY- may secondarily cause diarrhea: hepatitis, nephritis, pancreatitis

The following irregularities may be seen in the droppings of birds with intestinal tract problems:

* RED BLOOD - Recent bleeding in the lower bowel.

* BLACK BLOOD - Digested blood from the upper intestinal tract.

* BROWN WATERY FECES - Severe infect ion-patient is critical.

* MUCOUS COATING THE STOOL OR IN A LUMP ATTACHED TO THE END OF THE DROPPING - Indicates a chronic problem which may have existed for some time.

* DARK GREEN BILE - The bird is not eating and is only passing bile. This patient is critical and needs immediate intensive care.

* SOFT STOOLS WITH NO SHAPE - Diarrhea condition which needs diagnosis and proper treatment.

* NO STOOLS AND NO BILE - Bird may be constipated or the intestinal tract blocked from some other problem.

* HALF THE STOOL WITH NO SHAPE AND THE OTHER HALF WITH FORM - Diarrhea condition which needs proper diagnosis and treatment.

Droppings - As Involving the Urinary System
The kidneys serve a vital role in establishing and controlling the water balance of the body. The normal kidney, then, has the responsibility of maintaining the body at a rather static water level. In one 24-hour period, the kidneys could pass quantities of fluid urine and also pass very concentrated urine. The assumption could be made that these are normal kidneys. If they were abnormal, they would lose their ability to fluctuate between very concentrated urine and a very dilute urine.

Urine passes from the kidneys as white crystals of uric acid and as watery urine. Most birds pass both forms of urine under normal conditions. When water is in short supply, birds have the ability of conserving their own body water, and urinate solid urine as white uric acid crystals. When a bird drinks more or eats food with a high water content, he passes more watery urine.

Depending upon a bird's eating habits, some birds have a yellow pigment in their blood that is passed through the kidneys and is recognized in the dropping as yellow urates. These yellow colored urates may give some cause for concern, as about the same color develops if a bird is becoming jaundiced. If a person notices these yellow urates and the bird is not perfectly healthy, the bird should be examined by a veterinarian to determine it the bird has hepatitis.

Droppings and the Reproductive System
The cloaca of the female bird about to lay eggs will enlarge to be able to accept the egg from the vagina. The enlarged cloaca will be noticed by the size of the droppings that are passed. The droppings can become many times their normal size, but have every other characteristic of a normal dropping.

Should red blood be noted in the droppings, care should be taken in deciding if it is related to the intestinal tract, urinary tract, the cloaca, or possibly, the female system. In many cases, a retained egg in the uterus and vagina will cause bleeding. The important point to remember is that blood in the droppings can indicate trouble in other areas than the intestine and a proper diagnosis is hurriedly needed.


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## pdpbison

Nice info for us all to print out, and pin to the wall...


Thanks!


Phil
l v


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## Reti

Great info. Thanks for sharing.

Yesterday I picked up a very sick bird from a cat/dog clinic. The poor bird didn't make it, s/he died 30 minutes later on the way home. His droppings were lime green, watery. I've never seen such droppings before. No solids, just water.
Any ideas what this neon-lime green liquid could mean?

Reti


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## Guest

http://tinyurl.com/239zcl

Old World Aviaries
The Scoop on Poop
by Jackie Frederickson, DVM
Alaska Pet Care Center
Anchorage, Alaska

Reprinted from the Alaska Bird News, vol. 6, no 11.

Are you using wood chips, corn cob or any other type of loose litter on the bottom of your bird cage? If so, stop! There are two good reasons for this advice.

First, even if your birds can’t get to the litter because you have a grate over it, they can still inhale molds and bacteria that grow in feces or food in the litter.

Secondly and more importantly, you are covering up the simplest (and cheapest) diagnostic tool you have available to you right at home. Checking your bird’s droppings can give you valuable insight into your bird’s health.

To analyze bird droppings, you must know what is normal. Bird droppings are composed of feces (green to brown), urates (white), and liquid urine (clear). Most droppings contain all three components. The normal color, form, size, and number of droppings is different for different species of birds. What is normal for a cockatiel is not normal for a lory. To know what is normal for your bird, you must evaluate the droppings daily. This means the cage liner must be changed every day.

A few generalizations can be made. If a bird stops eating (but may still be cracking seeds or throwing food around), the fecal component will decrease. Solid urates and liquid urine will still be passed. The fecal volume is critical to watch when weaning, changing diets, or if any stress is anticipated.

Small, scant droppings can also occur with intestinal obstruction, as from a foreign object or a tumor mass.

Diarrhea (loose feces) is actually quite rare. More commonly you will see increased urates or increased liquid urine. (This is nearly impossible to assess on absorbent litters.) True diarrhea can be caused by parasites, bacteria, or fungal infection as well as from certain medications and foods. Changes in the amount of urine can be caused by diabetes, kidney disease, certain drugs, toxins, nervousness, and foods with high water content.

Color is also an important indicator. Feces of birds on seed diets generally have greener droppings, while those on pelleted diets have browner droppings. Pigmented foods (e.g. beets, blueberries, raspberries) can change the color of feces. Clay colored feces may indicate pancreatic disease, maldigestion, or malabsorption. Bright green feces may be found with Chlamydia, other bacterial, or viral diseases that affect the liver. Blood in the feces can be a sign of liver disease, papillomas, intestinal inflammation (infections or dietary), or egg laying problems. A change in the color of the urate to pink, red, or “chocolate milk” can be seen with lead or zinc poisoning. Lime green urates can be seen with chlamydiosis. Starvation may produce bile stained urates. Yellow-green urates can be seen with hemolysis (red cell break down) and liver disease from various causes.

Undigested food in feces can be seen with Proventricular Dilatation Syndrome. (Be sure it is not just food that has fallen onto the droppings.)

This valuable information comes free of charge every day from your birds. Don’t ignore it or cover it up. Use this information to help stop problems early, and share this information with your veterinarian.


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## Guest

http://tinyurl.com/2hydma

DROPPINGS INTERPRETATION IN RACE SEASON

By Dr Colin Walker BSc, BVSc, MRCVS, MACVSc (Avian health)

One good way of monitoring the birds’ health is by observing their droppings. As most fanciers clean their racing loft each day, simply observing the droppings during the cleaning process is a good way of monitoring the birds’ health over the previous 24 hours. Many problems that affect race performance are subclinical. This means that race form is affected before the birds actually start to look sick to the fancier. As changes in the dropping usually occur 1 - 2 days before an unwell bird starts to look sick to us, observing and effectively managing the abnormal changes in droppings does much to head off a downward turn in form.

Essentially, the bowel is a hollow tube into which several organs, in particular the liver, empty via ducts. The bowel terminates in the cloaca (a bag just inside the bird’s external opening). Ducts leading from the kidney also terminate here and deposit the bird’s urinary waste. Birds, interestingly, produce two sorts of urine, a liquid urine, which looks like clear water, and also a solid urine made up of a white paste of uric acid crystals. Therefore, in the cloaca accumulate the undigested remnants of food from the bowel, liquid and solid urine from the kidney and a number of normal discharges, notably bile from the liver and also mucus from the bowel wall. Once in the cloaca, some fluid is resorbed until, in health, a firm dropping, normally of a brownish colour, is produced. When the cloaca is uncomfortably full, the bird relaxes the cloacal opening and passes a dropping.

Green droppings
The main factor affecting the colour of a pigeon’s dropping is what it has eaten. Pigeons digest many of the pigments found in their food rather poorly and so these pass relatively unaltered through the system and colour the dropping. In this way, birds eating, for example, a lot of pink minerals, can be expected to have brownish droppings. Also birds eating greenish grain (eg dun peas) or supplemented with green vegetables (such as silver beet) or free-ranging and pecking at grass will have more green droppings. Green can, however, alert the fancier to the possibility of a problem. This is because green droppings can occur with bowel disease. The green colour comes from bile, which in birds is a brilliant fluorescent green. Bile is a digestive enzyme produced by the liver. After a number of metabolic steps, it passes from the liver down a duct (called the bile duct) into the bowel where it aids the digestive process. After digestion in the bowel, components of the bile are reabsorbed through the bowel wall for reuse. If the bowel is diseased, this process cannot occur normally, with the result that more green bile stays in the bowel and is passed in the dropping, resulting in a green dropping. Green droppings, therefore, can alert the fancier to the possibility of bowel disease. Usually, microscopic examination of a faecal smear will show the cause. There is always some bile left, which when mixed with the rest of the dropping, gives it a greenish hue. Although in the early stages of bowel disease birds can produce a firm dropping that is green, as a general rule such droppings are associated with the ingestion of non-digestible green pigments. It is always safest, however, to have a vet or technician microscopically examine a few green droppings to check that everything is okay. Because inflamed bowels not only absorb bile but also water poorly, green droppings that are also watery do, however, almost invariably point to a problem. The only notable exception here would be the droppings of recently returned race birds. Because these birds have not eaten during the race, their droppings are made up of urine, bile and bowel mucus and appear as a clear fluid ring with a small central amount of green mucousy material and white paste (the solid urine). In healthy birds, once in the loft and having eaten, their droppings should start to become normal within a few hours and unless the race was particularly taxing, should be completely normal by the next morning.

Watery droppings
Watery droppings occur commonly in only one of two situations, either where there is bowel disease interfering with absorption of fluid or alternatively where the urine component of the dropping is visible. A watery dropping associated with bowel disease occurs because any inflammatory condition of the bowel interferes with its function and compromises its ability to absorb fluid. The result is a watery dropping. Possibilities include infectious problems such as worms, coccidia, ‘thrush’ or a bacterial infection, while the most likely non-infectious causes are ingestion of either irritant or toxic substances either while free-lofting or associated with a change of diet. Usually an infectious cause can be detected quickly by microscopic examination of a faecal smear.

A watery dropping due to visible urine may or may not be a problem. As discussed above, the bowel and urinary waste accumulate in the cloaca . Here urine is absorbed by the bowel component of the dropping and some fluid is resorbed back into the body until a moist, well-formed dropping is ready to be passed. If the bird is disturbed, the cloaca will be evacuated prematurely before this process is completed. The result is a healthy dropping from a healthy bird that, because it is watery, can concern the fancier. The most common time that this is observed is after the morning exercise. Here the birds have not been fed so there is virtually no digested food in the dropping. Provided the birds are not dehydrated, urine production is constant. The birds often empty their cloaca on landing. The result is a small amount of green-brown material (mainly bile and bowel mucus), surrounded by a ring of clear water. And so a watery dropping in the morning prior to feeding, and particularly after exercise, is usually quite normal. A better time to assess the dropping is after feeding and a period of rest. As digested food starts to appear in the cloaca several hours after feeding, this acts like a sponge, mopping up the urine and cloacal emptying by the birds only occurs when the cloaca is full.

If droppings with urine rings persist through the day, it is probable that the birds are producing excessive urine. This occurs if the birds are drinking excessively. In a race team, this is almost invariably due to one of only two problems, namely wet canker or airsac inflammation. The wet canker organisms produce a toxin, which amongst other things makes the birds thirsty, resulting in an increased water intake, while inflamed airsacs lose their moisture-conserving ability, resulting in excess fluid loss in the expired air. To prevent dehydration, the birds need to counteract this and often overcompensate and drink to excess. A fancier can determine if wet canker is involved by organising for his local bird vet or technician to do a crop flush. If this is not possible, the condition may on occasion be diagnosed by response to treatment, eg giving a 2-day course of Turbosole (ronidazole) and monitoring the response. If there is inflammation in the deeper respiratory structures like the airsacs, there is usually also inflammation in the upper respiratory structures, such as the trachea and sinuses. This almost invariably leads to an increased level of sneezing in the loft. If there is no sneezing in a race loft, it is unlikely that a respiratory infection is active. If uncertain, a sample of mucus from the back of the throat can be examined microscopically (often done at the same time as a crop flush) which will, if a respiratory infection is present, reveal signs of inflammation and secondary infection. If infection is confirmed, usually a 3 - 5-day course of Doxy-T (doxycycline / Tylan) is given. Because approximately 80% of birds with respiratory infection during the race season also have a concurrent wet canker, often the Doxy-T and Turbosole are blended together. One teaspoon (3 g) per 2 litre of each is given in the drinking water. This blend turns the water a pale yellow colour and the birds drink it readily. By simultaneously treating any wet canker present, the response to antibiotics is always much better.

A more full explanation of changes observed in droppings can be found in my book The Flying Vet’s Pigeon Health & Management.


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## pdpbison

Reti said:


> Great info. Thanks for sharing.
> 
> Yesterday I picked up a very sick bird from a cat/dog clinic. The poor bird didn't make it, s/he died 30 minutes later on the way home. His droppings were lime green, watery. I've never seen such droppings before. No solids, just water.
> Any ideas what this neon-lime green liquid could mean?
> 
> Reti



Hi Reti,


I would guess 'Lime Green' to suggest a Virus...or a Chlamydia...and what you were seeing was a diarrhea from his intestines and other internal organs being effected...


Phil
l v


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## Reti

pdpbison said:


> Hi Reti,
> 
> 
> I would guess 'Lime Green' to suggest a Virus...or a Chlamydia...and what you were seeing was a diarrhea from his intestines and other internal organs being effected...
> 
> 
> Phil
> l v



Thanks Phil.
Too bad it was too late for this baby. I still can't forget him.

Reti


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## pdpbison

Reti said:


> Thanks Phil.
> Too bad it was too late for this baby. I still can't forget him.
> 
> Reti



Hi Reti, 



I know what you mean...


Phil
l v


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## Spikey

* SOFT STOOLS WITH NO SHAPE - Diarrhea condition which needs diagnosis and proper treatment.

* HALF THE STOOL WITH NO SHAPE AND THE OTHER HALF WITH FORM - Diarrhea condition which needs proper diagnosis and treatment.

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If above situation what is the steps should be taken? Kindly Advice...


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## John_D

This is a very old thread, and I'm not sure what you are asking, as you seem to have given an answer ... diagnosis. Soft poops isn't necessarily the same thing as diarrhea, and it isn't possible to give you anything like 'proper diagnosis' with so little information. Can you post photos?


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## Spikey

Jhon D.. I am just following the discussions on interpretation of Dropping and like to get some queries which i have given in my early reply.


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## spirit wings

The Tread is from 2007, dates are at the top of the reply box. Im not sure what your post means either. sorry.


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## AlicjanPip

*Pale dropping advice*

Hello,
I was just reading this article, and I came across the 'pale droppings' being abnormal line.
How pale is classified as abnormal?

I've been having a few issues with my pigeons this week. As of the last 4, 5 days we've been having symptoms of slightly watery, light to mid beige droppings. Beige as in pale pale tan/khaki. The white part is still white. The shape of the dropping is pretty good, but it is slightly wet. You cant pick it up and flick.

We had symptoms of bobbing, ruffled, shivers, no appetite, pica-ing at minerals, tail down...but these have passed it seems. Behaviourly is back to normal.
However the light droppings remain.

What are your opinions, knowledge on pale droppings, please?
Thankyou.


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## hamlet

Hello. I read that chlamydia can cause yellowish droppings in birds: from avian biotec website.


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## John_D

Food or various mineral supplements can cause a change in the color of droppings.

Yellow droppings may indicate a liver problem, but there are widely differing causes of that and it depends,too, on whether it's a semi-liquid pool of yellow, yellow urates or the solids.


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## spirit wings

AlicjanPip said:


> Hello,
> I was just reading this article, and I came across the 'pale droppings' being abnormal line.
> How pale is classified as abnormal?
> 
> I've been having a few issues with my pigeons this week. As of the last 4, 5 days we've been having symptoms of slightly watery, light to mid beige droppings. Beige as in pale pale tan/khaki. The white part is still white. The shape of the dropping is pretty good, but it is slightly wet. You cant pick it up and flick.
> 
> We had symptoms of bobbing, ruffled, shivers, no appetite, pica-ing at minerals, tail down...but these have passed it seems. Behaviourly is back to normal.
> However the light droppings remain.
> 
> What are your opinions, knowledge on pale droppings, please?
> Thankyou.




there is more to the color of droppings to guess if your birds are careying bad levels of bacteria or other issues. the smell , and of course how the birds are acting. as far as pale droppings there are a few possible reasons be normal for other reasons. possibles are ones already mentioned and another is young bird sickness. here is an example in the pic below. 










sometimes birds can act off if going through a molt, or if the hens do not have a calcium suppliment they can act down when it is time to lay eggs, they also can have large volume droppings from sitting on the nest.


having a vet do fecal flock test can give you answers, that only can be guessed at without it.


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## AlicjanPip

Hello, thanks for responding 
I will start a new thread then.
The droppings are still slightly moist, not tight or formed. Colour has become a bit more khaki brown though. Not blonde like at one point.
Appetites not right still, but behaviourly acting ok.
Mystery and worry.


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