# Cockatiel parents are having diarrhea since their babies hatched?



## huson (Feb 23, 2009)

For some reason, the parent cockatiel experiencing diarrhea for over a week now. 

1. I noticed that there is an increase of urine.

2. The dropping sometimes still able to hold its form, other times it is like rice puddding.

*Questions:*

A breeder suggested that the increased amount of urine can be due to the increase intake of water. It is because the parents want to produce soft regurgitated food. Is this true? 

What might be the cause of the diarrhea in this case (note: there is no change in their diet and however, every once in a while, I will change the proportion of pellets and seeds)?

Could the diarrhea be due to stress from feeding all these babies (note: this is their first time ever to take care of their babies. Currently there are 3 babies)?

What possible way can cure or minimize the diarrhea? 

The babies are having normal droppings, so I guess the diarrhea from the parents may not due to infection or any diseases? because if it is due to infection or diseases, wouldn't the babies get transmitted too?

Thank you for the advice~~~~


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## atvchick95 (Sep 17, 2007)

the more water they drink the runnier their poop will be... Same thing with if they eat greens like Kale, Spinach , etc. 

plus they hold it - they tend not to poop in the nest box (some do though) so it'll be bigger and not so well i guess firm 

depending on your weather - Last year my tiels were feeding at least 4 babies per pair (2 pairs had babies at the same time) both pairs water dish was 10 ozs I was refilling it at least 3 times a day some times more..... So i got a bigger dish I'm not sure on the exact oz of it but its intended for dogs - its too hook in the metal crates) I was still refilling that one at least twice a day And i filled it to the top 

But last summer was very hot even with the AC on - the room they were in was mostly windows 

the dish i was using (and am still using in one cage) looks like this 










that one in the pic happened to be a food bowl - It also helps the ones who like to sit in the bowl and kick out the food (my budgies kicked out the food the tiels just like to sit in their dish while they eat) But they couldn't get the food kicked up and over the lip of the dish So no more kicking food out


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## tielfan (Aug 31, 2008)

I'm having the same thing with Shodu right now - she's been having watery poops for a couple of days now. The vet thinks it's normal but it makes me nervous because I don't remember her doing this last year. Their first available appointment is next week, and in the meantime I'm giving probiotics to help stabilize things if she actually does have some sort of bacterial imbalance. It's not affecting the chicks or Buster.



> (note: there is no change in their diet and however, every once in a while, I will change the proportion of pellets and seeds)?


Actually, parent birds need to have a change in their diet when they're feeding babies, in the form of lots of additional soft food. Pellets are a good baby food if the parents eat them and then drink water to soften them up, but the seed probably won't stay inside the parents long enough to absorb much water. Babies have a hard time digesting dry seed. Maybe the parents are drinking excess water to try and soften up the seed?


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## sweetrsue (Jul 8, 2008)

They do drink more water when the babies are very young. The babies' food needs to be thinned out at first or they can't digest properly.


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## huson (Feb 23, 2009)

So??? I guess having diarrhea at this time is very normal?

There is some strong odour once in a while~~~


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## xxxSpikexxx (Jul 30, 2007)

My first thought was it could be a bacterial infection. I would take a fresh poop sample from each bird to get it checked out at an avian vets. I remember Bea's birds got a bacterial infection when they were bringing up a baby. Breeding is stressful and infections can happen, so I would get it checked out by an avian vet just to be safe.


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## sweetrsue (Jul 8, 2008)

This is another time where Ornabac is very beneficial. Aids with digestion and fight off bacterial infections. It also essential for babies to get it. They normally get it from being parent fed because they get the digestive beneficial bacteria from the parents.


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## srtiels (May 1, 2009)

*So??? I guess having diarrhea at this time is very normal?

There is some strong odour once in a while~~~*
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Are the parents vent clean looking...no fecal matter built-up? You'll see this with diarrhea. If normal looking they may be consuming more water than normal to keep the chicks hydrated.

As to smell...if a parent spends alot of time sitting in the nestbox they hold in any poop so that they don't go in the box. When they finially go it can be large and smell foul.

Susanne


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## atvchick95 (Sep 17, 2007)

my parent birds occasionally have stinky poo


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## huson (Feb 23, 2009)

wow thnx for the advices!!! 

So where can I buy the Ornabac?

Also, I heard that probiotics are good for the digestion~~~should I get some as well?

Have anyone heard of giving few drops of Kaopectate (original formula) to the cockatiel to stop the diarrhea?

At the momment, the chicks are old enough to remove from the parents. I will put them in the brooder and handfeed them until they are weaned off. Moreover, I can then observe any changes to the diarrhea. If the diarrhea gets better, I might assume that it is really due to the increased amount of water intake and stress from caring the babies~~~

Thnx again for helping~~~


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## tielfan (Aug 31, 2008)

> So where can I buy the Ornabac? Also, I heard that probiotics are good for the digestion~~~should I get some as well?


Ornabac IS probiotics - it contains Lactobacillus byproducts. But if I've read the labels correctly, Bene-Bac (a different brand) contains a wider variety of probiotics. I don't know where you live, but Ornabac seems to be easily available at large pet stores. Bene-Bac is harder to find - in my town, Petco had it but Petsmart didn't.

I gave Shodu some Bene-Bac and now her poops are back to normal. I got the small packet of gel tubes, not the big jar of powder.


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## olive juice (Mar 30, 2009)

Ornabac is fairly easy to find. I got mine at Petsmart.


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