# Smelly droppings



## BHenderson

One of my young female pigeons has been getting occasional smelly droppings. It went away by itself last time(about a week ago) but has come back and seems to be lasting longer this time. She has lots of clear fluid with the droppings which can smell so strong that you pull away. They smell a bit like an overripe drain(not a toilet) and sometimes they can have a slight vinegary smell. I have not seen anything like this before, and she is showing no signs of being ill, I am just concerned this may be something that is developing. This is the young female that appears to have the crop slightly protruding beyond normal when I rescued her, but again it does not seem to cause her any problems.

Any suggestions? Has she just eaten something unpleasant?


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## Jaye

If t is recurring or constant your suspicions are probably correct, she probably has some sort of digestive bacteria which shouldn't be there. I usually treat with Amoxy, Penicillin, or Cipro/Baytril for a week and that resolves it.


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## Skyeking

*Have you tried giving her probiotics?


If not, at this point you don't need antibiotics. If she is young and stressed she may just be depleted of good gut bacteria. Antibiotics will wipe out any good gut bacteria which eventually will have to be replenished.

You can get good bacteria back in her gut naturally by crowding out bad bacteria by giving to her probiotics. Put some organic ACV in the water also. That may just take care of it, if not get a diagnosis and then treat. *


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## BHenderson

I have just got some ACV, but it is hard to get them to drink water with it in, I am having to use a weak dose to try and get her used to it. I also have a probiotic powder that I mix with her food with some oil. It seems to come and go, but it does keep coming back.

She may be getting stressed because I have a baby pigeon at the moment and I am having to split my time between them. The baby is demanding and I have had some jealousy problems with Tyke biting the baby if the baby goes to her for food. Whenever I have the baby on my lap I try to put Tyke on my lap as well and I stroke them both to sleep at night, but I think she is worried the baby means she will get pushed out. Maybe she will relax after a while.


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## Jaye

I respectfully disagree with Skye. In my experience, it is not probiotics which is needed, it's antibiotics. It's not the absence of good flora which is causing this, it's the presence of not-so-good flora.


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## kunju

I had posted a similar condition for my pigeon a few days back. But my pigeon was 'sitting' in her nest for too long. Hence poops were large and smelly.

I have to say that she was also feeling depressed and neglected, because I also had to divide my attention between her and my other bird just like you. 
One thing that worked for me, is colloidal silver. You could try it. 
It is not available in India, so I am making my own at home. 
Colloidal silver use is controversial, so you may use your own discretion.


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## Skyeking

BHenderson said:


> I have just got some ACV, but it is hard to get them to drink water with it in, I am having to use a weak dose to try and get her used to it. I also have a probiotic powder that I mix with her food with some oil. It seems to come and go, but it does keep coming back.
> 
> She may be getting stressed because I have a baby pigeon at the moment and I am having to split my time between them. The baby is demanding and I have had some jealousy problems with Tyke biting the baby if the baby goes to her for food. Whenever I have the baby on my lap I try to put Tyke on my lap as well and I stroke them both to sleep at night, but I think she is worried the baby means she will get pushed out. Maybe she will relax after a while.


* Is Tyke the one who has the runny poop? She may be stressed by the baby coming towards her. Keep them completely seperate and see what happens.

She should be getting heavy doses of a good refrigerated probiotic-even organic kefir. If this is coccidiosis, which are really watery and stinky wet poop and water, she will need some really strong probiotics. This has been my experience. I spoon fed kefir a whole day and she got over it after two days. 

A drop of nano silver may also help tweek her gut.

You may need to get a diagnosis if this continues, because if it is coccidiosis it can just be secondary infection.*


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## Skyeking

kunju said:


> One thing that worked for me, is colloidal silver. You could try it.
> It is not available in India, so I am making my own at home.


*Yes, that is a good suggestion, I used to use colloidal silver as well and it worked, but now I use nano silver which seems more beneficial.

Here is one our family uses: It is phenominal and the cream works as an antibiotic as well. http://www.silversolutionusa.com/

*


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## kunju

Another similarity that struck me is the 'vinegar' smell you mentioned. Mine had that smell. Perhaps it could more of a psychological issue. The baby probably would not mind being treated the second best, because his mind is not (yet) complicated. You could give more attention to the jealous one and let her know she is your first priority.


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## BHenderson

I am in fact trying to spoil Tyke as I am worried this might affect her.

This morning her poop was normal and not smelly, but this afternoon she had one loose dropping and a second that looked like someone had spat on the floor. It also had the vinegary smell again. She looks very healthy and is eating so I am inclined to wait and see what happens as I do not want to medicate unnecessarily.

I am getting a colloidal silver maker soon so I will try that if the problem persists, in the meantime I will keep up the probiotic powder and hope it does not get worse. Like I say she looks well and her feathers are soft and healthy looking and she had a good appetite. I think it might just be some stress because of the baby, I will try to make a fuss of her and let her sleep with me for a while.

I will look into getting Kefir locally, its not common round here.

Thank you all, I'll let you know how things develop.


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## spirit wings

they sound like those smelly large volume nest droppings hens do when laying eggs and sitting on the nest when they hold it in from sitting eggs..but she is not doing that right? could be hormone related..or bacteria related.. getting it checked may solve the mystery.


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## BHenderson

I think the smelly droppings (which have developed a more fishy smell) may be something to do with her crop. She was very undernourished when I found her and I think there may be something wrong with the crop which seems to be hard even when empty and also seems like it might be a little high up. Its hard to tell about the position because her head is often back because she is getting over PMV. Could a recurrent infection in the crop be causing the smelly droppings? It is hard for me to see a vet because the local vets do not want to get involved with looking after feral pigeons, so I am reliant on advice from others. Please let me know if you have had a problem like this. I do not want to keep feeding her antibiotics if the infection keeps coming back because long term antibiotics use may do more harm than good. I have been giving her a probiotic and fiber powder with her food and this does seem to help, but she again has had watery yellowish fluid in her morning droppings and they smell strongly fishy. It does not seem to be affecting her health in other ways although she seems to lack energy sometimes. If anyone has had experience with infections in the crop I would love to hear from you, as I am sure her crop should not be as hard as it is.

Thank you,
Brian.


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