Can millet cause birds to....

[anne0102]

(warning tmi) can it cause them to have loose poop? Has anyone found this to be true? It seems to be for my budgie, so I'm trying to leave the millet in her cage for shorter periods.

 

[expressmailtome]

I have never heard of that before. Has anything else changed in her diet?

 

[BeeBop]

Most of the time loose droppings come from watery foods, and millet is not a watery food. If your only feeding dry foods and noticing this you should probably take them to a vet to be sure it isn't illness. Any other signs of sickness? Sleeping more than usual, sitting on the bottom of the cage, "fluffing" for long periods of time.

 

[Monica]

Many seed blends for small birds may also contain millet... so I'd agree, millet is probably not the culprit.

 

[camelotshadow]

Budgie seed mixes are mostly millet.
Budgie poops are small dry round poops. I had an english budgie & those poops are cute compared to the bigger blobs larger parrots make.
Millet should not make watery poop as its a seed.
Mine nibbled on romaine lettuce which is good for them & never had watery poop.

When you say loose do you mean soft runny?

Loose poop could indicate a problem but it can come from watery foods but does not seem like she is eating any.

Keep an eye on her poop & also as mentioned above. Sleepy, inactive, fluffed or sitting on bottom
but those are more advanced signs of illness.

 

[HawkEagle]

I wouldn't think millet caused this, it is a seed and it is "dry food". If you frequently feed your budgie fruit and vegetables, which are "wet food" then they might be the cause.

 

[anne0102]

I noticed it happens more the day after leaving millet branches in her cage for a longer period of time. If she has no millet, other than her seed mix which I need to check if it has any in that, her poops are firm again. Very strange.... could there be something else on the millet? Do they spray it with anything? She's doing about 50% normal poops and 50% loose or watery. I will keep the millet away from her all of today and see what happens.

She has no signs of sickness, perfectly fine and LOUD right now as it's morning time.
@HawkEagle I put apple, carrot, lettuce and grape in her cage over a few days but she didn't want it. Not had any in there for about 3 days now. (I only left each item in her cage for a couple of hours in case it started to rot and made her sick.)

This started happening the second week after we got her, could it be due to her previous owner feeding her different food to my seed mix food?

Could it be due to hormones? Just throwing that out there as she has the breeding age cere color

 

[BeeBop]

I've never heard of millet causing watery droppings. If it's only the millet, then maybe she can't digest millet well?

This started happening the second week after we got her, could it be due to her previous owner feeding her different food to my seed mix food?

I don't think watery droppings would stick around after two weeks on a different dry diet, but I could be wrong. Are you sure that the watery droppings are coming from the millet branches? I suggest you change the papers out before you give the millet to see for sure if it's the problem.

 

[Reggie]

I also think changing the papers to monitor it would help! If she's acting completely normal, I think taking the millet away for about a month would do her good? Then you can see if the poops STAY firm for the entire length of the month. That way you can be sure she's not ill! I really hope it's not anything serious.
I'd also recommend not offering any fruits or vegetables while you're monitoring her poops.
Good luck with everything and keep us updated!

 

[rockybird]

Could the millet be making her thirsty and she is drinking more water..thus the watery droppings?

 

[SamandWilley]

Do you give her water to bathe in? My lovebirds have very watery poo after I give them their big bathtub!