# Stinky Pigeon?



## Ledanator (Aug 14, 2010)

I'm fostering a new pigeon right now in hopes that she and my male pigeon will hit it off! She's extremely sweet and wonderful. There's just one thing, she has stinky poops! I gave her a bath a couple days after I got her to make sure her body was clean, but her poops are pretty smelly. 
My male pigeon has almost odorless poops, and I've had parakeets and cockatiels for most of my life and they never had a pungent odor. 

Her poops almost smell kinda fishy and vinegary? Not like a dog poop. And they're very watery. In the picture are her poops, the liquid recently is actually very clear, almost like water but it smells! And the big green thing is a dead leaf. She will sometimes have more normal looking poops though, but they are still very watery and still smell.
She's been eating a lot (and thus pooping a lot) so she seems happy. And she walks around and is curious about the world so she isnt acting sick.


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## Skyeking (Jan 17, 2003)

*Do you have any history on the bird?

Is her keel bone sharp?

How much is she eating? 

What prevention meds or nutrition have you given her?

Has she ever laid eggs?

Any other symptoms?

I would definitely at this time make sure she is eating enough (if not, hand feed her) and a good pigeon seed diet, provide probiotics and/or ACV in the water.
*


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## spirit wings (Mar 29, 2008)

this looks like she needs some meds against cocci or something else. you should consult your vet. 

I hope you quanatined her for a few weeks before being around your healthy pigeon.


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## Ledanator (Aug 14, 2010)

She is in a separate cage from my boy. They dont share food or water either. I've only had her for about a week as well. I thought the stink might be stress. But for the past 3 days she has been very curious and active and seems to have adjusted to the move. 

There's not too much detail on her history, she was found on the street with another pigeon(both Birmingham Rollers) and seemed to have a head injury because she has a cataract in her left eye and her left leg is a little nerve damaged. Her tag info says that she was owned by a man who died a few weeks before she was found. So they think the family just let all the pigeons he had go not knowing that they wouldn't do well in the wild. She's also very used to being handled and is very mellow in nature.
The woman I got Stella(the pigeon) from had her for about 4 months. She has a lot of pigeons and is very knowledgeable on their care and health. Stella went to the vet about a month ago because she seemed sick and she stayed over night at the vet for a couple days before he gave her a clean bill of health.

Her keel bone isn't as sharp as my boys, and the person I got her from was fairly sure she was a girl because she was flirting with her boy pigeons.

I'm not sure if she's ever laid eggs. I didn't ask, but I could find out, but it would only be an account of the past 4 months.

The first day I had her she really didn't eat much, I think because of the stress of moving. But since then she has been kinda a pig. I think a rough guess would be that she eats just a bit less than 2 tbs of her feed. It's a kaytee pigeon mix my male loves it(well he will eat anything...) and has always been super healthy and energetic(his vets have always loved him.) but I've been curious about trying out other things. 

I also give her AviVitaGold mixed into her water. The ingredients label says "Maltodextrine, vitamins, minerals, amino acids, tangerine flavoring." as well as a huge list of the actual vitamins. (Vit, A, B1-6, 12, C, D3, E, H, K1). As well as red bell pepper chopped up really small. 
She's fairly small. My boy weighs about 275g and she weighs just over 200g(she was being difficult on the scale.) I was told that the 200g was about average for her. 

The only other thing she does is that she's fairly sleepy. I was told that most pigeons with a head injury are sleepy. She naps a lot but will wake up every few minutes to walk to a different place and then nap again. She can be very active sometimes though and will walk around and check stuff out and play with a little ball I gave her. 

I can get her some probiotics and ACV water. I'll pick some up today.


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## spirit wings (Mar 29, 2008)

Ledanator said:


> She is in a separate cage from my boy. They dont share food or water either. I've only had her for about a week as well. I thought the stink might be stress. But for the past 3 days she has been very curious and active and seems to have adjusted to the move.
> 
> There's not too much detail on her history, she was found on the street with another pigeon(both Birmingham Rollers) and seemed to have a head injury because she has a cataract in her left eye and her left leg is a little nerve damaged. Her tag info says that she was owned by a man who died a few weeks before she was found. So they think the family just let all the pigeons he had go not knowing that they wouldn't do well in the wild. She's also very used to being handled and is very mellow in nature.
> The woman I got Stella(the pigeon) from had her for about 4 months. She has a lot of pigeons and is very knowledgeable on their care and health. Stella went to the vet about a month ago because she seemed sick and she stayed over night at the vet for a couple days before he gave her a clean bill of health.
> ...


she needs an antibiotic the smell and color indicate that at least. which one would depend on what she is harboring. if you do not have a fecal test done then use something againts cocci and Salmonellosis. at least you would have those two coverd and hope that it works on the strain of bacteria you want to eliminate. also sour droppings can mean canker as well. you may want to treat her for that after the antibotic.


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## ThePigeonGene (May 30, 2014)

You really need to do a fecal test...........most places should do it, even if the vet isn't a pigeon vet

Otherwise you're just shooting blind - cocci and canker are common. So its a fair shot she has them

But like Spiritwings said it could also be salmonella..........

Or it could be something else........

Or it could be all of the above...........

If you treat for canker and cocci, and the droppings get better but don't clear, you also don't know if the treatment worked and its something else or if you need to extend the treatment

And all meds can be pretty toxic and birds need a break to let their system recover between treatments - which can end up being a long battle if you're randonly picking meds :/


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## Ledanator (Aug 14, 2010)

I haven't given her anything yet. I wanted to update with her most recent poop. I notice that it has little to no smell unlike the ones from the past week. But all her poops are extremely watery like this. None have been very cloudy today.

Her mood has had no change though.

I can bring her in for a poop test. How does that usually work? Do I bring in a poop or does the vet just wait for her to poop and then get results from that?


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## spirit wings (Mar 29, 2008)

call your vet and ask, the first picture was enough to show she needs medication.


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## Ledanator (Aug 14, 2010)

I'll call and see if I can get her an appointment for this coming week.


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