Master the Secret Language
of Sick Canaries
and Their Droppings.
One of the most important things you can do is to educate yourself on the symptoms of sick canaries.
Canary poop speaks to me...It's speaking to you too.
Sick canaries will often have abnormal color or shape to their droppings.
You must learn to evaluate canary health by looking for
abnormalities in canary droppings. Watch droppings closely so that
when you have a sick canary you may be able to tell what are normal and
what are abnormal droppings.
Canary droppings are made up of three things...
--urine (clear)
--urates (white)
--feces (dark)
Urine...
The urine should be clear in a healthy canary. Red urine indicates internal bleeding.
An increase in urine could mean your canary...
--has contracted a disease
--has been eating high water foods such as iceberg lettuce or celery
--is drinking a lot of water which is an indication in sick canaries that they have contracted some kind of canary disease.
Urates...
The Urates is a white chalky paste...sometimes light cream
colored.
- Green or yellow urates indicates liver disease.
- Red urates would indicate internal bleeding.
- Brown urates indicates lead poisoning.
Feces...
The feces should be tubular and have solid form
to indicate good canary health. A more liquid form would indicate
diarrhea.
The color of the feces differs depending on diet. The typical seed and greens diet will produce green feces. If your bird has been eating strawberries or red pellets he may have red feces. Blackberries or blueberries will produce black feces.
If you see black feces that cannot be explained by diet, your canary may have Melena...intestinal bleeding. Check the feces for worms. Take your canary to the vet as soon as possible if you can afford it.
Make it a habit to..
Look at your canary's droppings everyday...
Do it when you feed or change water. If a change occurs you'll be able to notice the difference.
If you suspect your canary has some form of intestinal distress like diarrhea you can try a probiotic. It provides soothing relief for intestinal distress and is a source of live naturally occurring microorganisms to aid in healthy digestion.
For more on how to "LISTEN" to your canary's body language and how to recognize subtle symptoms SEE THIS. The next logical question is, "How do we treat our sick canaries?"
First-things-first...
You must make him comfortable. Then you can administer some very important medicines and supplements.
Return from Sick Canaries: Droppings to Sick Canary: Symptoms. For more on how to "LISTEN" to your canary's body language and how to recognize subtle symptoms visit THIS PAGE.
