Dry droppings...

metalmare

metalmare

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My pony's droppings are unusually dry, as there is little to no grass to be had now and he is on hay with a little damp chaff.

It's hard to monitor how much he's drinking as he has an automatic trough. I assume he would benefit from drinking a little more though. Any suggestions on how to encourage this?
 
Soak your hay and make the chaff wet and sloppy rather than damp, i'd also add some salt to the diet, like a salt lick or into the food, keep a close eye on it as well, as dry droppings like this may be a pre requisite to an impaction colic forming
 
Yeah, I wondered about salt. I was soaking hay through summer and autumn, prior to freezing conditions, but it's certainly mild enough to go back to soaking hay now.

I can easily make the chaff sloppier, too.

If I put a bucket in I'll have to section off the trough with electric fencing. Doable, but might be worth trying the other measures first.
 
I should add the droppings aren't rock hard... they're just drier than they usually would be for him and too much so for my liking. They aren't breaking on hitting the soft ground in the field, but they are just about breaking when scooped up with the poo rake.
 
I would consider making a very wet grassnut mash, bran mash with a good dollop of mollasses (but do make sure the bran 'cooks' well) can work well too.
 
Will a one off or short term bran feed flush the system? Or do I just feed it until the droppings resume their normal texture? I've never fed straights before.

My yard owner does feed bran to her ponies, though.

Why molasses, just to make it appetising?
 
Molasses helps things through :) We make up a bran mash with a cup of bran and a couple of cups of boiling water, leave to cook and then make wetter with cold water. We usually find one is enough to get things going, provided that enough water is being taken in, but there is no problem with feeding a bran mash for a couple of days.
 
Ah, I didn't know that!

That's great advice, thank you. I'm sure with the various measures above I'll quickly get him sorted.
 
My horse has just come back from horspital as a result of this leading to impaction colic i have been advised to give warm bran mash every other day and as much work and turnout to keep everything moving!
 
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