Big brown poops - is this normal?

[chirpy]

So yesterday I saw a big brown poop... originally thought it was just dried up vegetable... but it seems that there are MORE big brown poops!
they are the thickness of mice poops but a little bit longer and wetter looking.

Urates are white - which is normal.

Are they eating TOO MUCH vegetables? my female eats lots and lots of vegetables and loves some apples - she pretty much ate 80% of the thin slice I hung off the cage.... they also ate some sprouts/chits yesterday and some egg food - my gosh thats a lot of different food! I hope that is OK!

Just a little worried - they seem fine and everything jut ginormous poop!

[cindy]

Is your hen nesting and do they also eat pellets (can change the color of the droppings)?

Certain foods will change the color of the droppings slightly. If she is consuming large amounts of vegies daily it may account for some of the color change and volume. I would vary what she gets veggie wise to see if it makes a difference, does she get apple daily or do you rotate the veggies out.

[chirpy]

cindy from the looks of checking their food and blowing the husks out of the seeds it looks like they hate or atleast doesn't eat pellet. She is also not nesting, they also don't have a nest - they DO but they don't use it they sleep on top of it.. I've seen him try to mate with her though.
They had kale the last few days and had apple the past two days. I will maybe skip the kale and give them some broc today... And also skip the apple as well to see if that will change the poops.
If it IS the food changin the poop that's ok..?
And if not is it a problem?
They are big! Like they took Metamucil or something!

[cindy]

Do you see any powder at the bottom of the dish like they ground the pellets...if so it means they are eating them. What kind are you using?

[chirpy]

No, no powder. Usually I see the pellets and seeds are gone and I toss it and replace the food. I use kaytee from petsmart.

[cindy]

Mine did not touch pretty bird or kaytee...try the Lafebers finch or Zupreem fruit blends canary finch...I used both in the past and now use Roudybush Nibble size (PetSupermarket)

[chirpy]

cindy lafebers finch is powder form? That's the only one I can find..? If so do I just sprinkle it on the food? I will look to see if they have the zupreem! My URL loves lafeber so maybe these guys will take it too

[cindy]

that is the only way they make the finch canary, I mixed it in dried eggfood, served it on top of the seed or in a separate dish...it is really easy for the parents to feed to the young to. I have not looked at the keet size but will, not sure if it would be to big.

[finchmix22]

Petsmart ussually carries Zupreem, by the one for canaries. The Le Feber is just very small pellets, but it does work better mixed into eggfood. My finches would not eat any kind of pellets. They get a breeder seed mix or I buy the Econutrition at PetSmart if I'm out of the one I order from Herman Brothers.

[finchmix22]

Apple can make people constipated, so it likely can do the same with finches, which may explain her eating tons of veggies and the mice like droppings. Read the section on poopology in the Finch Info Center. It is always good to vary the veggies and fruits we offer and many don't eat pellets if they are not used to them being offered.

[cindy]

Deborah is right, some birds just never acquire a liking for pellets, if you want the future generations to like them offer it upon weaning. The Lafebers is nice because you can "hide it in dried eggfoods or boiled egg foods as Deborah mentioned.

[chirpy]

cindy i will go get some at petsmart when i am there next! I was just thinking there should be one in more seed like form but if there isn't I will just mix it in with the foods that I know they will eat!

@finchmix22 So I guess finches are like human babies what they eat is what you see in their poops! I have skipped apples and kale today to see what the poops will look like. It is obvious that the female is the one with the huge monster poops cause there are ittybitty cute ones from the male - he will eat certain foods but hes not HUGE on eating a mixed diet like my female is (hope he comes around though)

--- Is there food you recommend that is SEED ONLY? as they are not eating the ones in there already and if I can get them to eat lafebers. It would be so much better than wasting the pellets which seems to be like 1/4-1/3 of the bag!

[cindy]

I buy seed separately and mix it but you can find some that contain no pellets...some feed stores do carry pet bird seed. Another good source is at local bird shows. Herman Brothers Pet Products will blend seed mixes up just for you and what your birds like. I ordered a few different types and found what the ate and they made it up accordingly.

Roudybush Nibbles is eaten and preferred by all my birds, it is about the size of a white proso seed.

[Lisa]

Chirpy, this is gross but I once had a nesting hen make a pile of brown poop that actually resembled dog poop! I couldn't even believe the size of it... that was quite a nasty mess to clean up that day

[chirpy]

cindy thanks for the info, I will look them up once I stop looking at the forum LOL - in a few hours haha!!!

@Lisa funny! They are such little birds, how do they manage to get out such big poops! it's not like they strain either the just fly out! it looks so dense.. maybe they ate some steak or something I saw big poops again.. I am not giving them kale to see if that is what is making it hard? I gave them some corn to nibble on, to see how that goes..