Constipation is a digestive disturbance usually caused by feeding an
insufficient quantity of green foods. The correction is to give a
variety of green foods, including sprouted seed, regularly. Lettuce,
sweet apple, Chickweed, watercress, and dandelion are beneficial. Green
food should always be crisp, clean and fresh. When a bird is being fed
generous amounts of fresh green foods, the natural result will be more
liquid droppings. This should not be confused with diarrhoea, a
condition in which the droppings are usually excessively watery.
There are many possible causes for diarrhoea. The diet itself may be
unnatural for the bird, or it may be inadequate to the seasonal needs of
the bird. For example, in the breeding and moulting seasons freshly
prepared egg food should be given. Diarrhoea may also be merely an
accompaniment of an active disease. The bird should be kept warm. A
change of diet will usually afford relief. Temporarily, eliminate rich
and stimulating foods from the diet. Supply as much of the following
mixture daily as the bird will eat:
1 slice whole wheat bread
3 tablespoons steel-cut oats or Quick Mother's Oats
1 teaspoon poppy seed
1 teaspoon scraped cuttle bone
Toast bread until thoroughly brown on both sides and quite dry inside.
Then crush it to small seed size particles and add the
remaining ingredients.
Give buttermilk or tea in place of drinking water for 3 or 4 days.
If the disorder persists, or if the droppings are off-color and evil
smelling, write us for further guidance, describing the conditions and
what you have done.