Eating Mud

[devilwoman]

Is this a deiciency in something - both my girls have pawed an area in the field by some blackberry bushes and are often seen licking/chewing at the mud where they have scraped the grass off it.

They have plenty of hay in the field during the day, haynets overnight, and get a general multi-vitamin/mineral in their feed every day (Codlivine Super) and also Baileys Outshine.

 

[dorani]

I think you may be right,possibly iron deficiency?

 

[china]

i have a feeling its a copper deficiency but thats off the top of my head. a mineral lick is good. not a salt one.

 

[charlie55]

Is it happening more since the ice/snow etc?? Once the ground has been very cold, all the minerals and that from the ground rises up. Hence the horses licking the mud.
When my horse first went out after 6 weeks boxrest, all he done allday was lick the mud

 

[Luci07]

I would also keep an eye out to make sure it doesn't end as a sand colic though...

 

[bigboyrocky]

they need more minerals!

licks and feed supplements can help

and also good quality forage

 

[hellybelly6]

My horse does this, he licks the mud near a stream in his field.

He is fed an appropriate and recommended diet.

I have heard that eating mud can help with gastric acid, but am not sure about this.

 

[ester]

frank loves mud

, only in specific areas of the field and he works very hard at them!

wont touch a lick of various sorts.
gets a supplemented diet as doesnt get the recommended amounts of hard feed.

he doesnt do it enough that would worry me about getting impaction colic from it, the only times I have seen that is horses on bare starvation paddocks. Is just natural way of getting minerals.

 

[Christmas Crumpet]

If a horse eats mud it is generally selenium that he is missing. Do a search on Selenium and see what supplement you can get.

My TB used to eat/lick mud in the snow too but doesn't anymore after feeding him extra selenium. Think that's how you spell it.