POOPOLOGY: Parrot Health

Parrot Health
POOPOLOGY: Check your bird’s poop daily for the proper consistency. Droppings should be well formed with both green and white streaks in it. (Lorys and Lorikeets are the exception. They have looser poops due to their high sugar/nectar diet). If you begin to see loose or discolored stools, please call your vet. Because birds hide illness so well, their poop is the best indicator we have of trouble/illness brewing. Before panicking, go over what your bird has had to eat in recent days. The color of food will tint their poop.

FOODS THAT CAUSE YEAST INFECTIONS/SOUR CROP: Yeast infections, also known as Sour Crop or Crop Stasis will be fatal to your bird if left untreated. If your fid begins to present runny stools and has drool coming out of the beak, he most likely has a yeast infection in his crop and needs to be treated with a broad spectrum anti-biotic like Baytril. Call the vet right away, should you see these symptoms. Foods that cause yeast, when given too often or in too large portions, are pasta, rice, bread, potato (anything starchy) and sweets. White bread should NEVER be offered. Whole grain bread can be offered occasionally. Birds love pasta, rice and potato and can have these things in small amounts, offered no more than once a week. A daily offering is begging for a yeast infection. Sweets are completely OUT. No bites of cake, cookie or other human deserts. Yes, they will relish them, but; it is “killing them with kindness” to allow them to have it.

HOW TO HELP PREVENT YEAST INFECTIONS: There are three (3) ways to help prevent these infections from occurring, and they do occur, occasionally, no matter how vigilant we are about their diet. NATURAL APPLE CIDER VINEGAR WITH THE MUTHER/CULTURE IN THE CONTAINER: You can get this at any natural food store. Mix 1 tablespoon to every 2 quarts of distilled or filtered water and use this to water your birds once per day. Other water changes during the day do not have to be from this source, just filtered or bottled water. NATURAL UNFLAVORED YOGURT: If your bird doesn’t go for the ACV water, you can purchase Natural Culture Yogurt at the Health Food Store and give him/her a bit of that every day. Buy small quantities, if you only have one or two birds, so you are not wasting it because of the expiration date. The popular brands from the grocery store are made with dead culture and have no affect on yeast infection prevention or cure. IT IS A MYTH THAT BIRDS ARE LACTOSE INTOLERANT!!!! They just do don’t process nor benefit from milk like mammals do. It is the culture you are after, in this case, and the milk just comes with the territory and will pass through your bird without harm or incident.