Poop (fecies, excrements) smell like skunk

http://www.greyforums.net/forums/showthread.php?94543-Poop-smells-like-skunk&p=198648#post198648

1. I have had a pigeon for about one year and I noticed that when she over-eats and sits on her eggs for 20 days, she tends to hold her poop longer (she is very smart bird and does not want to poop around her nest - her nest is in my bedroom). So, being a very smart bird, she flys to the feeder in the corner of the bedroom and poops from or near the "designated pooping area". Very smart bird. Makes it easy for me to clean up. But her poop stinks to heaven when she does not poop very often. That happens when I am not around and she cannot leave her nest (eggs). As soon as I come back from school - she knows it is my turn to sit on eggs - and she starts flying around and pooping all those huge chunks of poop she was holding when I was not around.
2. She likes "service": when there are no seeds in the dish she starts flying from the dish and onto my head, and back and forth. That is her signal she wants me to put seeds into her dish. But recently I noticed she just want attention: she has seeds, egg-shells, stones, water, greens, etc (everything that a bird needs) yet she would start flying back and forth onto my head and back to the dish. She just want me to show her that I pay attention and that give her things if she demands it. She is just verifying the communication system is working. She just wants attention and service. Social bird.
Conclusion: the stinky poop is most likely from overeating and from diminished movements of the bird (sedentary lifestile). I notice MY OWN poop starts smelling like devil when I overeat and skip one hour of sweat-drenching gym session.

The stinky poop is from holding it for so long and nothing more... not from over eating. All pigeon ppops is that way when they hold it in for so long.

1. Unfortunately (for you) there is overwhelming amount of references and research on the web that clearly state that birds do OVEREAT and even get OBESE in special circumstances of living alone or from being bored, etc (in any such situations that are not normal). Situations that any lone bird would be in. So, they have disorders due to boredom and loneliness. Overeating is one of such disorders. Search the web yourself to confirm it.
2. Simple denial of something does not give you any credit in denial. You must provide:
a) facts and/or
b) references
to your statements of "not from overeating".
Without facts or references your statements are viewed as a wishful thinking and dreams.
This is the rule of science (nothing personal).
3. I know when exactly and how my bird overeats. She starts throwing seeds out of the dish and they all end up on the ground. Once she empties the dish in such matter she begins to demand more seeds - flying onto my head and back to the dish like mad.
If I do not respond to her madness and give her couple of days to clean up the seeds on the floor (her dish is on the pole platform - feeder, 6 ft high off the ground) - her poop instanteneously NORMALIZES! Regardless how long she holds it!
Nothing but pure FACTS and SCIENTIFIC research, and observation.

4. Putting 2 and 2 together I know for a fact that when I overeat and sit for entire day - my poop stinks. Else - my poop has NO SMELL (almost).
5. My conclusion is still the same (see my previous post).

Matilda wrote:

The stinky poop is from holding it for so long and nothing more... not from over eating. All pigeon ppops is that way when they hold it in for so long.

I'm not going to debate with you Peter, but I will say this... pigeons like people have food preferences and the behavior you have described is very common pigeon behavior . Pigeons toss their seeds to get at the ones they like best...different pigeons like different seeds.

The stinky poop is from holding it too long and not from over eating. All pigeons have stinky poop when they hold it. That is a fact and those of us that are experienced in keeping pigeons joke about it.

To deny her food and only leave spilled seeds for her to pick up on the floor would be a cruel act on your part, although I realize that would not be your intention to be cruel, because you are not a cruel person, but rather you have made up your mind and are stuck in thinking that is not correct.

The advice here is given from 25 years experience living with pigeons and because I have living knowlege I don't feel I need to provide any references. This post, in fact, can now be concidered a written reference aboput pigeons and why they can have stinky poop.

Peter......The large smelly poops are typical of a bird who is sitting on eggs. It is from holding their poop for the entire time they are on the nest until their mate come to relieve them from the nest. I have an indoor house pair Jackie & Snowflake and I have the exact same problem. The poop is in very large mushy amounts and boy oh boy does it stink. There is nothing to be concerned about.........it is perfectly normal. When you take the eggs away after 18/20 days their poops return back to normal. Then in 7/10 days they lay another set of eggs and the smelley poop routine begins again.

It is definately not from overeating. In the world of pigeon keepers this type of poop is referred to as "Dropping the Bomb" or "The Mother Load".

As far as her spreding and flinging seeds, I have a total of 6 indoor birds and they all do that. It is because they have an abundance of seed and can become pickey as to what they will choose to eat out of the mix. Feral pigeons living out in the wild do not have this luxury and you will always see them eating each and every little crumb or seed they can scavage.

I feed my birds twice a day. They get approx 2 tablespoons each per feeding. About 60% they fling all over the place. My birds are far from undernourished nor are they overweight either.

If the wasted seed is your concern, go to Petco,they sell 3 sided ceramic feeding dishes. It tends to eliminate some of the waste. Other people feed their seed in little plastic containers, with a hold large enough for the birds head in the top lid. This definately will go along way to eliminate waste.

Hope this helps you out a bit.

Louise

I have been a pigeon mama for just a year, and so far what I have noticed on my 2 pijjies regarding food intake is that they are very picky. They toss out of the feeder the seeds (all rice looking seeds - barley, oats, wheat..) they do not like to peck on. At first I thought it was just an accident that these particular seeds were tossed but when I spent time observing them I found out they just pick on particular seeds they always peck and wont touch the rice-looking seeds they do not like. When I turn my back from observing, in a couple of hours I come back I see some of the rice-looking seeds tossed out of the feeder and the seeds they like (peas and milo) are gone. So I realized my pijjies are picky.

BTW, those seeds they toss, I pick them up and leave it outside my walkway. Now I have frequent visitors outside and I love looking at them. . They are pigeons, mourning dove, robins and I do not know what the name of the others - just they have wings! They are equivalent to poor people who has no money to buy food, so we share our little abundance to them. But on top of that, I always leave seed outside if I don't have much collected neglected seeds from my pijjies feeder.

All pigeons toss seed, of at least most of them, looking for the kind of seed they prefer. They are smart birds, and they do have a preference for different seeds. I always try to notice what kinds of seed a new bird is picking. That helps me to know his favorites when I hand feed to get them to come to me and get used to me.

As far as the stinky poops, yep! That is from them holding it for so long. It has nothing to do with being over weight, or my Scooter, who resides in the living room rather than in the loft, would have stinky poop. She had a badly splayed leg when we adopted her, and couldn't walk or stand. Now she can stand, and even walk a little, and fly. But because she is in the house, in a cage during most of the day, she eats and doesn't get as much exercise. She's getting to be a little chunky. And thank God! Her poops never stink. So being over weight has nothing to do with it. Some of my birds who drop those poops are no where near over weight, or over fed. They have just waited on the nest too long. Don't worry, it normal.

Jackie's Mom wrote:

I feed my birds twice a day. They get approx 2 tablespoons each per feeding. About 60% they fling all over the place. My birds are far from undernourished nor are they overweight either.
Louise

I feed my guys just like you do, Louise and they are neither undernourished or overweight and they certainly don't over eat.
But boy howdy do their poops smell when they are about to lay eggs and/or are sitting on them.
That goes for both Mom and Dad.

Peter...I do need to add that African Grey parrots and pigeons are not a good comparison. African Greys need a great deal of intelectual stimulation and companionship. If they don't get it, they can over eat but more likely they will become distructive or even self mutilate.
I have rescued several over the years and the one that haunts me still was a grey whose name happpened to be Peter.
He was in a house across the street from me, one that now has that breakfast place below it.
At the time, the house was for sale and I had a client that wanted to see it. There was Peter, in a dirty cage, in a dark hallway and out of boredom and fear, he had plucked evfery feather he could reach. He had been given to the owner of the house by a man that didn't want Peter any omre because the man's girlfriend didn't like him. Probably Peter was a wild caught bird. he had been with the man for over 20 years.
I did talk them into letting me have Peter as he needed a vet and they couldn't afford one. he lived with us for 4 years and found comfort in my husband. Peter was one of the most intelligent birds I have ever know.... he was calculating in his actions he did well with us until my husband lost interest and stopped spending so much time with him...then Peter began to self mutilate.
The story didn't end well.... he threw himself off his perch and his neck was broken.

If you are feeling your pigeon is unhappy being alone as much as she is, I 'm happy to place her for you. I do think that pigeons deserve to be with their own kind...all creatures deserve that.


Now if you are thinking pigeons and African Grey parrots have many similarities, other than being birds, you might pose that question on the grey forum. If you do, I will thank you in advance not to do it in my name.

There is a link on this forum with really great feeder ideas (with photos) that help to contain the seed.
https://pij-n-angels.forumotion.net/pigeon-and-dove-chit-chat-f12/helpful-hints-and-tips-t869.htm

You may find something that will help for your situation. I too have a bird that tosses her seed everywhere trying to get to her favorite safflower seeds. Each bird that I have had has done the same thing. I hope you find something on the link to help.

persimmonspea

Well - "my" birds ALWAYS toss seed around and they are ferals, free to come and go. You could not say that they do that because they are overeating. That would be ridiculous. But there are others, specifically one we called Mr. Proper, who loves to pick up every single spilled seed before he goes to the foodie pot. So I hardly have any spilled seed lying around!

Pigeonwriter, I like Mr. Proper - he is the sweeper huh .

pigeonwriter wrote:

Well - "my" birds ALWAYS toss seed around and they are ferals, free to come and go. You could not say that they do that because they are overeating. That would be ridiculous. But there are others, specifically one we called Mr. Proper, who loves to pick up every single spilled seed before he goes to the foodie pot. So I hardly have any spilled seed lying around!

I think everyone needs a bird like that in their loft. LOL.

pigeonwriter wrote:

Well - "my" birds ALWAYS toss seed around and they are ferals, free to come and go. You could not say that they do that because they are overeating. That would be ridiculous.

* But there are others, specifically one we called Mr. Proper, who loves to pick up every single spilled seed before he goes to the foodie pot.

** So I hardly have any spilled seed lying around!

* I love that, Petra.

**

LOTS Mr. Proper.