FINCHforum

Hi everyone. Lately I have noticed that my zebra finch's stool (Chunk) has been pink and wet. Her and my other finch (Roxy) have been laying eggs. Roxy has been laying eggs normally, but Chunk was struggling to build her own nest. Eventually, Chunk started using Roxy's nest and laying some eggs there. The eggs themselves look clean (no blood), but I am concerned about the poop. We have been giving her the same diet her whole life, which has small red pellets, but her poop never had pink in it. She regularly pecks at her cuttlebone, so I don't think it is calcium deficiency.

I have read about egg binding, but I don't want to jump to conclusions. I would really appreciate any advice. We recently lost our other bird, Beemo, so I want to do anything I can to help. I included some photos of the poop, some fresh and some dried.

If she's egg bound she will fluff up and most likely sit on the bottom of her cage. I have a feeling that the pink poop is from the red pellets. It's possible for her poop to change because of absorbing it better at one period of time and not another. It happens with people, eating beets, etc. Maybe one time they won't have an "issue" and another time they will. It's just a matter of how the digestive system is working at the time. I don't see a problem with the poop otherwise. It's formed and not looking weird to me. Maybe someone else sees something I don't. Unless she's behaving sickly, I wouldn't worry about it. Sometimes birds will share a nest. Mine did that and hatched out eggs in the same nest. I removed the least attentive bird, leaving the one female as the appointed mother with the male...father of all the babies. I would just watch for any changes, fluffing up, behavior changes, etc.

I agree with Corkysgirl. It's probably the pellets. The droppings will change color according to what they eat.

Pellets would be my best guess too.

A lower GI tract bleed can appear pink (upper GI would look dark brown or black), but it would dry brownish.

But the dried specimen appears very cotton candy pink, which makes me think pellets.

It's possible she wasn't eating the red pellets in large number previously. Or maybe she started eating less of another seed in the mix, so the red pellets comprise more of the mix.

It's also possible they switched to a different dye or a different pellet formula.

(As an aside, my society loves the green pellets and she frequently gets a bright green beak! It was super startling when I first saw it!)

I see this occasionally with mine when given he colored pellets or even the natural pellets depending on what foods are eaten....no need for alarm or to change her diet if it works well for her.

Pellets can turn the birds stool color just as certain veggies will. Monitor the droppings. It there was blood from the passing of an egg it would likely be on the egg and possibly a bright red in the urine and droppings. It does not appear to be so. Supply her with a bit of powdered calcium with D3 when egg laying. AviTech make several. One powder I use and mix easily into the soft foods such as grated boiled egg or chopped veggies is Cal-D-Solve, it contains D3, Calcium and magnesium. Cuttlebone alone for some birds may not be sufficient enough.

One thing to note....I had a bird that was egg bound, the vet checked her and had me keep her under heat, the egg passed with a small amount of blood on the egg. I called the vet, they said this is due to straining to push the egg out. The strain can rupture a small blood vessel close to the surface inside as the egg passes. A heat source hung near where she can get to it and extra calcium in the diet will aid in easing that from happening.

Cindy is correct. Also, the humidity helps pass eggs more easily. I put the hen in a hospital cage with a heat lamp and run the shower in the bathroom on HOT. That creates a steam and humid environment. In addition, to some Calcium Plus to the beak, the hens usually pass the egg within a few hours at the most.

If you use steam as Deborah suggested please leave he heat lamp on her, if damp and there is no heat source she will get chilled which causes the muscles to tense up and she will no be able to easily pass the egg. Once the egg is passed leave her a heat source as a precaution, leave on until she is acting normal.