Coprophagy

[Hippophilia]

I've noticed my mare eating manure over the last week or two. She's on a round bale of mainly alfalfa 24/7 and gets a warm mash of a senior feed twice a day, and has a salt lick. Does anyone have experience with this? It's so cold here right now she's not getting out and about much so could it be boredom? She's out in a large paddock with shelter and company.

 

[Shay]

Is she older? Horses will sometimes do this is there is something lacking. But mainly foals eating from the mare which is thought to have something to do with re-populating the gut and oldies re-consuming partially digested food.
It might be worth having her teeth checked to be sure she can actually chew and make the most of her food. And perhaps thinking about a pre biotic or other supplement to try and pick up whatever she is trying to obtain.

 

[Archiepoo]

Hi my pony was doing this and I put him on brewers yeast he stopped within a few days - its probly the haylage being a bit acidic and upsetting the gut flora

 

[Dry Rot]

Normal behaviour of an animal merely topping up, rather than dumping, benign bacteria that it needs but has in short supply. It i quite common behaviour in a lot of species. It could be a symptom of something more serious but I would not worry about it unless it persists or increases.

If you think about it, cows eat their own vomit and hares cannot survive unless they eat their own droppings to digest their food a second time. Lots of animal eat their own dung -- and I've heard babies will do it unless their mothers stop them! (Maybe someone can confirm that!).

 

[Hippophilia]

Archiepoo - how much brewers yeast do you give?