Kind of a gross question....

[sundancekid]

So.... I have a question regarding poo. I picked up my societies on Friday and I noticed that their poops seemed kind of small. They were just like little "threads", but I thought maybe that's just how small finch poop is. Fast forward to yesterday when we ventured into fresh foods. They got broccoli, peas, corn and chopped whole wheat pasta, all cooked. I was worried about their acceptance of these since they've spent who knows how long on an all seed diet. I was thrilled to see that they dove in and ate almost ALL day like a bunch of little piggies!
So this morning, I noticed that there were three very large poops on the paper. I changed the paper out and of course, 5 minutes later I saw another large deposit. Is this normal?! I guess if they're getting bulkier foods, maybe the poo is supposed to correspond with that? I'm just a little paranoid because I think they're all female and have not shown much interest in the several calcium products I've supplied. I read that large poops can be a symptom of egg binding. Maybe they're just pigs though. Thoughts?

[MiaCarter]

This sounds very normal.

Fresh foods like veggies also have more liquid, so they're a bit wetter too.

That's wonderful that they've accepted the new foods!

[Sally]

Large poops really aren't a sign of egg binding. You will see large poops when birds are sitting tight on eggs. Since they aren't venturing out very often, when they do come out and poop, they can be quite large just because they've held it so long. Sounds like your new birds are enjoying a much-improved diet!

[sundancekid]

Thanks for the replies. It was just such a big difference that I was concerned. It makes sense though. Do you have any recommendations for getting them to take more calcium just to put my mind at ease? I'm going to try and post a video of their chatterings tonight in the finch chat category to see what your thoughts are on sexing, but I'm pretty sure they're all female. I don't want to add anything to the water, since that seems like it could cause problems with overdosing. I'm mainly trying to avoid making my own hard-boiled egg. For some reason, the smell and texture just turn my stomach. I will do it if I have to, though.

@MiaCarter
I have been using your chart of safe/unsafe foods. It is very helpful, so thanks for putting that together. I do have a question regarding cheese. The other online resource that people seem to refer to on here says that shredded cheese is ok because cheese does not have lactose? I did a little more poking around and a lot of people say that the harder cheeses like cheddar are ok in small amounts, but other people say no cheese at all. I understand the lactose intolerance part, but am pretty mixed up about this cheese thing. I gave them a pinch of shredded cheddar yesterday and they seem fine. I didn't see it on the bad foods list on your site until too late

[lovezebs]

sundancekid
Haahaahaa...
No worries. We all have poop concerns at one time or another.
Your birds are fine. As you said, they were little piggies, which equals BIG poops.

[MiaCarter]

sundancekid -- That's a great question!
I've never tried cheese, as I know it can cause upset since it's dairy and their systems aren't really designed to handle dairy.
But if your bird likes it and tolerated it in small amounts, then I don't see any problem. It's not a toxic food, per se. More in the category of apt to cause upset stomach.

If hardboiled eggs creep you out, do scrambled instead. That's what I do.
You DON't add milk or use oil as you normally would with scrambled eggs.
Just put them in a microwave-safe bowl, scramble them and microwave until cooked (depends on how many eggs. About a minute for just a couple eggs or around 3 min for a dozen.)
Then, just crush it up with a fork.
I crush up the shells and mix those in too.

[cindy]

I avoid cheese completely, cheese can actually have small microscopic threads of mold forming in it even prior to you seeing actual mold on or in the cheese. Those threads of mold can make a very small bird sick where as it may not affect us. They do not need cheese if you are thinking along the lines giving them calcium, there are better ways of giving them calcium.

Try instead, boiled grated egg, giving them the shells crushed or ground into a powder and mixed in the egg food and providing them with a calcium/D# powder mixed directly into the soft food. I use Cal-D-Solve &/or AviVita Gold (3 times a week) which contains a long list of vitamins, minerals and amino acids plus D3 and calcium. You can also shave some cuttlebone over soft food, but cuttlebone alone is not a sufficient source of calcium.

[sundancekid]

Wait, MiaCarter, you've blown my mind. You can scramble eggs in the microwave?! Does it turn out like rubber? Do you crush the shells before and cook them with the egg or do you rinse the shells and crush them separately? I could maybe stomach that. My best friend growing up grossed me out concerning the eggs. She used to bring a hard-boiled egg, tuna and pickles for lunch..... sweetie, I love you but that stuff STTAAANKS. Yuck.

[MiaCarter]

sundancekid --- I know it!
That blew my mind too when I first saw it. I was like "woah! A whole new use for the microwave!!"

If you cook them too long, they will get rubbery.
But if you get them at the perfect point --- right when all the wetness dries up, they're perfect!

They're super fluffy -- fluffier than on the stove. You'll actually see them rising up out of the bowl as they cook! Just like microwaving marshmallows (for rice krispie treats!)

For the shells, I put them on a paper towel and microwave them first. That dries up any wetness and it causes the membrane to dry up and bubble up away from the egg shell surface. So you just peel it off. (Otherwise, the membrane holds the shells together, even after you've crushed them.)

Then, I put the eggs in to cook and as they're cooking, I crush up the eggshells.

Then, I use a fork to cut up the eggs into small chunks.
I'll put the plate in the freezer for about 45-60 sec to cool.
Then I'll use a fork to smash them up into small bits. Once that's done, I'll sprinkle the shells and handfeeding formula powder over the eggs and mix it all up.

I also save egg shells from any other eggs that are used in my house. I've got a tupperware, so you put them in the tupperware instead of discarding them. So there's a bit extra calcium in there!