Smelly poop

[slwatson]

One of my society pairs (there's actually a male and two females together) are working on clutch number two. I pulled the nest last night to count the babies, who are growing feathers, and I noticed one had died. I removed it, cleaned the nest, put fresh bedding in, and replaced the babies. This morning, I noticed the male was sitting on the perch, and when he pooped, it was very runny and smelled awful. I know this is possibly a sign of illness, but I'm not sure if I should treat him with anything or remove him just in case. I'm assuming if he's ill, he's passed it on to everyone else because he's been feeding. Any thoughts?

Thanks in advance!

[debbie276]

I believe smelly droppings can be the signs of coccidia.

Also, a post from Tiffany:
There are two "carrier diseases" you have to worry about with African finches (including Societies): Campylobacter and Cochlosoma.

When using societies as fosters for Australian species, if the societies have Campylobacter, you will see the chicks will often die before or around 10 days of age, and there will usually be an abundance of mustard yellow smelly droppings.

With Cochlosoma, it can be anywhere from 10 days to 6 weeks (just after weaning) that you start to see problems.
If they survive to fledging, what you usually see during fledging/weaning is a failure to thrive, going light, etc., and then they ultimately die. And this happens repetitively, with multiple (if not all) chicks in that and subsequent clutches.
http://www.finchforum.com/viewtopic.php ... ngs#p61170

[cindy]

I pm'd you some suggestions if you do not have an avian vet to do a fecal smear for you.