How to Treat Diarrhea and Watery Droppings in Pigeons? A Medication Guide for Racing Pigeons
Diarrhea in pigeons has many causes, and treatment methods require selecting appropriate prevention and control approaches and medications. Under normal circumstances, pigeon droppings are small and firm, with a little bit of white on them. If watery droppings, loose droppings, or scattered droppings appear, the bird is not healthy. There are many types of racing pigeon diseases; some diseases may appear alone, and some may appear as mixed infections. For someone who is not an animal medical professional, it is very difficult to determine what disease it is. However, many racing pigeon diseases can be reflected through the shape, color, and odor of racing pigeon droppings, which is also one of the methods animal medical professionals often use to diagnose racing pigeon diseases.
1. Judging by the shape of the droppings
(1) Watery strip-shaped droppings
Cause: Mycoplasma infection, which does not cause much harm.
Prevention and treatment: General antibiotics are sufficient.
(2) Yellow, green, milky white, or gray-green loose droppings
Cause: Generally Salmonella infection. This disease is highly contagious and can cause great harm to pigeons, so great attention must be paid to it.
Prevention and treatment: Medications such as enrofloxacin, ciprofloxacin, and Junbike can be used for treatment. Sick pigeons should be isolated, and the pigeon loft should be disinfected.
(3) Patina-green or brown-green loose droppings
Cause: Generally pigeon cholera virus infection.
Prevention and treatment: Medications such as compound diaveridine, streptomycin, gentamicin, doxycycline, tetracycline, and penicillin can be used for treatment. Sick pigeons should be isolated, and the pigeon loft should be disinfected.
(4) White or green sticky droppings
Cause: Generally Escherichia coli infection, and this disease is also highly contagious.
Prevention and treatment: Miaoxiang probiotics can be used to regulate the digestive tract, and it generally can cure the condition. If it is especially severe, a small amount of gentamicin, kanamycin, and other medications can be used for treatment, but these medications still cause some damage to the body, so probiotics are more natural. At the same time, remember to disinfect the pigeon loft.
(5) Yellow, gray-white, or pale green loose droppings
Cause: Generally Pasteurella infection.
Prevention and treatment: Medications such as fowl cholera aluminum hydroxide vaccine, pure norfloxacin powder, and intramuscular penicillin injection can be used for treatment. Sick pigeons should also be isolated.
(6) Large amounts of watery loose droppings
Cause: Generally Newcastle disease virus infection. This disease is highly contagious and can cause great harm to racing pigeons, so great attention must be paid to it. This
Prevention and treatment: There is no specific medication for the disease. Pigeon Newcastle oil emulsion vaccine can be used for emergency immunization. Sick pigeons must be isolated, and the pigeon loft should be disinfected.
(7) Swollen cloaca in pigeons, with mucous droppings.
Cause: Generally enteritis or paratyphoid, and this disease is also highly contagious and likewise can cause great harm to racing pigeons.
Prevention and treatment: Medications such as chloramphenicol, gentamicin, compound diaveridine, and tetracycline can be used for treatment. Sick pigeons should be isolated, and the pigeon loft should be disinfected.
2. Other judging methods
(1) If there are white spots or yellow things in the mouth, it can basically be determined to be trichomoniasis. Treat it according to the method for expelling trichomonads;
(2) If a pigeon is listless or has diarrhea with blood, coccidiosis should be suspected. Treat it according to the method for expelling coccidia;
(3) If there is white or yellow in the watery droppings, there are two possibilities. One is Escherichia coli infection, which can be treated with norfloxacin. The other is Salmonella infection, which is a more serious problem, and pigeons in the entire loft must be given prevention and treatment. The method is to treat according to the method for treating Salmonella;
(4) If a pigeon vomits food and also has thick green droppings, it is generally adenovirus infection. Treat it according to the method for treating adenovirus;
(5) Other pathogens can also cause watery droppings. Prescribe the right medicine for the illness.
3. Detailed explanation of common diseases
(1) Symptoms of Salmonella
Mildly affected pigeons show: listlessness, ruffled down, drooping wings, retracted head and neck, closed eyes and drowsiness, unwillingness to move, and huddling together. Appetite decreases, then feeding stops, and most show symptoms of a soft crop. At the same time, there is diarrhea, with thin, paste-like droppings, and the down around the cloaca is contaminated by droppings. In some cases, dried droppings seal around the cloaca and affect defecation. Because inflammation around the cloaca causes pain, sharp cries often occur, and severely affected birds finally die from breathing difficulty and heart failure. The mortality rate can reach 30%, or even higher. Some sick pigeons develop blindness, or show lameness symptoms in the limb joints. The course of disease may be as short as 1 day, generally 4 to 7 days, and pigeons that escape this calamity become chronic patients or carriers.
Some adult female pigeons show listlessness, drooping head and wings, diarrhea, white loose droppings, and may even temporarily stop laying eggs. Some racing pigeons develop peritonitis due to yolk sac inflammation, and peritoneal hyperplasia produces a “pendulous abdomen” phenomenon. Some adult pigeons show a chronic course after infection, with reduced appetite, drooping wings, diarrhea, and gradual weakening and death. After illness, the head twists. In a few individual cases (especially breeding pigeons kept in closed lofts, due to insufficient sunlight and low activity), joint inflammation can be seen, with symptoms such as joint deformation, swelling, and lameness, which are difficult to cure for life.
Preventive measures——Strengthen feeding management, keep the pigeon loft clean and hygienic, provide good ventilation, disinfect regularly, and eliminate the causes of disease; vaccinate to prevent Salmonella disease; when this disease is found, isolate and disinfect immediately; use the traditional Chinese medicine preparation “Astragalus polysaccharide” for 1-2 days per week, which can help strengthen the pigeons' constitution.
Treatment methods——Take pigeon medicine “Wenna” No. 2 according to the instructions for 3-5 days; human medicine “norfloxacin” can be given orally, 1/4 tablet, twice a day, for 3-5 consecutive days; furazolidone (0.04% mixed into feed), chloramphenicol (0.1% mixed into feed), and gentamicin (2000-3000U per bird, in drinking water) can also be used; after medication, use liver extract or multivitamin electrolytes for 2-3 days of conditioning.
(2) Intestinal tract damage
Add brewer's yeast to the pigeons' feed 3 times per week. Brewer's yeast is a probiotic. After probiotics enter the intestinal tract, they increase the number of beneficial bacteria, rebuild the population advantage of beneficial bacteria, form multiple growth factors (UGF), inhibit the growth and reproduction of pathogenic and harmful bacteria, form a bacterial film in the intestinal tract to protect it from pathogen invasion; break down various beneficial trace elements; restore the normal physiological function of the intestinal tract; and enhance the pigeon's immunity!
Probiotics include: lactobacillus tablets, yeast tablets, dried yeast, brewer's yeast, etc. They are sold in pharmacies and racing pigeon supply stores.
In addition to containing yeast that helps digestion, brewer's yeast also contains: 18 kinds of amino acids, multiple vitamins, high protein, and various trace elements and electrolytes needed by the pigeon body, as highly efficient nutrients. It is a high-purity yeast specially for racing pigeons.
Pigeon keepers are reminded to pay attention: even if only one pigeon has diarrhea, it must be isolated to avoid contact with other pigeons. Otherwise, once multiple birds have an outbreak, it will trigger even more cases, and the consequences will be immeasurable.