Eating poo..

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Amyree

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I have had a 12.2 Section A cross on loan since November, he was coming in at night before but started living out 24/7 with us. He wasn't having any hard feed previously. After about a month he started eating one of my other horse's poo, this was the only one on hard feed at the time. As he had started to live out and has a moderate workload I started him on Baileys local mixed with chaff and he stopped eating the droppings. He looks good and is up to date with worming etc but i saw him doing it again yesterday - any suggestions please? Thank you.
 
When dogs eat poo it's a sign that they are lacking fibre and you usually stop it by adding bran. So I would think that something is missing from diet.

Found this on Google

Common Reasons Horses Eat Horse Manure
Replenish the gut with good bacteria
Nutritional deficiency
Boredom
Hunger...sort of...more like an empty stomach. More on that later
 
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When my elderly mare started doing this (eating poo) I was told she was lacking in iron and advised to give her red cell to boost hee iron levels. Apparently a tell tale sign is when comparing her gums to that of other horses the gums where noticeably pale. Hope this helps xxx
 
I don't believe it is a shortage of anything except the correct bacteria in the gut.

There was a professor of digestion (sorry, don't know the correct term!) being interviewed on the radio about bacteria in the human digestive system so, being me, I phoned him up and quizzed him about coprophagia (poo eating). He agreed that it is probably caused by an imbalance of bacteria in the gut. Animals that do this are simply topping up with bacteria that have been excreted and it is nothing to get upset about. If you don't like it, look away.

Some animals (e.g. hares) have to eat their own poo as that is their normal digestive process. Passing food through for a second time means they can digest cellulose. And don't forget that cows eat their own vomit! Animals do not necessarily follow what we humans think is "nice". They do what works for them and they've been doing it for many thousands of years even though we think we know best.
 
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